Blindsided
by potterfan36041
Summary: There are so many things that can happen to a ranger and as the rangers are tested, yet again by Mesogogg some of them discover just how important they were to each other and just how much they have truly missed each other. AU Dino Thunder
1. The Beginning

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own the Power Rangers or any characters affliated with this series. I may, however, have some originial characters that I will post up here as they are added.

Lovely time, lovely place, so why in the world did it not feel like it was like that today? Well, Jason could think of the answer, but he really didn't want to admit it to himself. He didn't want to admit that there was another monster out there after the rangers. He wanted his life to be going back to normal, especially knowing that his friends were coming home, for good. This day had been a long time coming, but it was still hard to believe that is was finally here.

Geneva, 2001. They had been in this country for close to six years and although the time had passed surprisingly quickly, it still did not feel as if this was home. They still needed to get back to Angel Grove and settle down where they were supposed to be, with the people that they loved.

Who was 'they' you might be asking? 'They' was Trini Kwan and Zack Taylor, neither knew what was ahead of them but they certainly remembered their past well enough to know anything was possible. They had been Power Rangers, they had been friends, and they were the first to be openly attacked by Mesogogg. No one knew what had happened to Tommy, except Jason because of the fact that Tommy didn't want to worry the others. The both of them hoped that it would go away, very soon without too much of a fight.

"Are you packed up?" Zack asked, as Trini nodded her head yes. She was more excited than words could explain. She hadn't seen Jason in a year and although they had parted on friendly terms, she didn't think she could remain just friends any longer and hopefully Jason would feel the same way. She didn't know what she would do if he just wanted to act like there was no spark between them and that they were only friends. She didn't know if she would be able to take that sort of rejection from him right now, when she needed him.

"I'm so ready to see Jase," Trini said bouncing up and down while Zack laughed at his hyper friend. Trini rarely acted like this, but when she did, she was worse than most of his other friends. Kimberly had been known for it, but Trini was the calm one and he didn't really know how to deal with her, no one did when she was like this.

"And he's ready to see you," Zack said, pulling his suitcase into the hallway and locking his door behind the two of them. It was the last time that they would see this place without being visitors and that gave them a sense of joy.

They had been waiting for this day ever since they had gotten the letter saying that they would be allowed to leave the program and return home. They were some of the last ones to leave from the original group, but it had been well worth it and the degrees that they had acquired also made it well worth their time. They were going back to Angel Grove after leaving their stamp on the world and that was all that they could have wanted. They finally got some credit for good, which was something they definitely didn't see when they were rangers.

"Zack, do you know why Tommy hasn't called lately?" Trini asked as Zack shook his head. It honestly surprised him that Tommy hadn't called, but Kim's silence was ten times worse. She had never been silent for this long without an excuse and she had yet to give them one.

"Who knows. We'll make sure to call him when we get to California. I'm sure he'd be able to come visit Angel Grove. It'll probably be a relief for him with the way that his job is right now," Zack said with a smile as they got into the elevator and then went through the lobby to the taxi.

"I don't know, he seemed awfully busy the last time he called," Trini said, while they piled in and their luggage was placed in the trunk.

"Tommy is always busy with something," Zack said as Trini nodded her head. She certainly agreed, but it just seemed to be more than normal, although he had not felt that it should be openly shared. Tommy had always kept secrets from all of them, except Kimberly, but she was no longer there to pull things out of him. "But what about Kim?"

"She…well I think she's back in California, but that is about all I know. She said she'd call when she settled into her home," Trini said as Zack stared at her. He had never expected to hear that from Trini, when they were about to board a plane back to California.

"They're in the same state? Do they know that?" Zack asked as Trini grinned. She had known that Zack would react like this when he heard the news, that was why she had kept quiet for so long. She had wanted to see that reaction so badly, but the shock value was so much better now.

"Kim knows, Tommy won't until we all meet up," Trini said while Zack nodded his head. He was sure that Tommy would explode, but six years was long enough for him to get over everything that had happened, hopefully some of his ammunition had decreased lately.

"How about Billy?" Zack asked. He knew Trini would know if Billy was back on Earth, but she might be the only one that knew.

"More of the same. He just likes exactly where he is today. I'm not going to try to convince him to come home unless he sounds like he is unhappy," Trini said as Zack knew he was still on Aquitar and they missed him more than he knew.

"I miss Billy," Zack said simply.

"So do I, but…wasn't that the airport?" Trini asked, as they passed the building and she realized the driver had a rather scaly face. "Zack…"

"What?" Zack asked as he saw Trini pointing at the mirror and he knew they were in deep trouble.

"Welcome friends," Mesogogg said as Trini and Zack stared and tried not to scream from utter fright. "This is going to be a lovely last ride."

"Puerta," Trini muttered and Zack nodded his head that he understood. They could only hope that the being had left the doors unlocked.

"Nope," Zack said and Trini tried to roll down the windows and they didn't budge. They were locked in the car with this demented thing and no way out.

"We could always," Trini said pointing to the 'watch' on her wrist and Zack nodded. They hadn't teleported anywhere in years, but it was always worth a try. When they pressed the button to teleport it took them to a place they had never seen, but they were sure that they were out of the car and maybe even in California.

"Hello!" Trini called into the room that looked like a modified Command Center and she was surprised when a door flew open and Tommy appeared at the top of the stairway.

"How'd you get here?" Tommy asked running down the stairs in a pair of jeans and both of them noticed he had no shirt on, so they couldn't help but wonder what he had been up to.

"Teleported. Why didn't you tell us that another demented creature is after you?" Trini asked as Tommy looked at her. Had they had a run in with Mesogogg or was there something else out there that he didn't know about?

"Mesogogg found you?" Tommy asked as he escorted them out of his Command Center and into his house.

"Yeah, you better call Jason and tell him we're here. He will probably want to know that we're not going to be coming in on the plane," Trini said and Tommy nodded his head although he couldn't believe the luck he was having today.

He had gone on a run in town and ran into a girl that he could have sworn was Kim, but he knew that was nearly impossible. She was still across the country from what he knew. Now two of his best friends landed in his basement because Mesogogg was after them. He was having one hell of an emotional roller coaster and he was not sure if it was done yet. There still seemed like there might be something else going on here that he didn't know about.

"Jase," Tommy said as he heard someone pick up on the other end.

"Yes," Jason said, cautiously, as he had heard that voice from Tommy before and he doubted that Tommy had any good news for him.

"Zack and Trini landed in my basement and told me to call you," Tommy said as he could tell it was taking Jason a little while to comprehend everything that had happened.

"I'll be up there in an hour and I'm going to try to pick up Kim if she doesn't drive herself over there first," Jason said and he hung up the phone while Tommy stared at it, hoping it would give him some answers. Had he just said that Kimberly was going to come with him?

"Trini!" Tommy roared as she nearly jumped out of her chair and into Zack's lap. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"We couldn't tell you. She moved back a few months ago and created a job in Reefside. We all thought it was best to just let the two of you handle it on your own," Trini said as Tommy glared at her. "We've been rooting for the two of you for years, maybe you'll get your shit straight now."

"Our shit straight? What do we have left to get straight? She dumped me for some asshole in Florida and all I get is a 'dear john' letter to soothe my soul. It's not that easy to just forget something like that Trini," Tommy said as they heard a tentative knock at the door and Tommy glared over at them before he went to answer it. He could only hope that it was some poor soul who got lost in the backwoods and was asking for directions out. If it was Kim, he didn't know what he was going to do, except slam the door in her face.

"If that is someone besides Kim, we're in deep shit. I knew that she would drive herself over here," Zack said as Trini nodded her head and heard Tommy slam the door closed. "I guess we're in deep shit either way."

"Let me in damn it!" Kim yelled as she beat on the door and Trini walked over to let her in. She did not care if Tommy wanted to be childish, they needed to talk this out, now. "What's going on? I didn't do a damn thing to make him mad."

"You showed up, that's something," Tommy murmured through gritted teeth as Kim glared over in his general vicinity, although she didn't make eye contact with him. He got the eerie sense that she couldn't and he didn't know why that bothered him.

"They're my friends too, Tommy, I deserve to see them," Kim said as Tommy just shook his head. She had honestly lost her mind to think that she could come in here and see them. She could see them somewhere else, when he was not involved and preferrably very drunk.

"Not here," Tommy said as Kim glared at him and then cautiously walked over to Zack.

"What attacked you?" Kim asked, worriedly, as she ignored the daggers Tommy's eyes were throwing at her. She was more concerned about her friends than with what Tommy might do to her. She had already been through the worst pain possible, anything he did to her would not hurt nearly as bad.

"Another one of Tommy's lovely friends," Zack said as Kim looked over at him.

"Another monster is after you? Tommy, do you just have a sign hanging out front that says 'Come after me, I used to be a Power Ranger'?" Kim asked as she turned towards him and he just stared at her. She had the right to be mad because of his cold reception, but this was not the way that she would usually act, he knew that much.

"No, I don't have that," Tommy said as Kim walked over to him and gave him a long look. "What are you doing?"

"My glasses are in the car, I couldn't see how pissed you are at me," Kim said as Tommy gave her a confused look. "I started losing my sight a couple of years ago. I was on a medicine that caused it and when I found out that was it, I stopped taking it, but the damage was already done. It's improved some, but I don't hope for much more than what I've gotten back."

"You make it hard for him to stay mad at you," Trini said as Kim looked over at her and shrugged her shoulders.

"Why should he be mad at me? I only did what was right to protect him, to protect all of you," Kim raged as they gave her a confused look. "Zordon didn't tell you?"

"Tell us what?" Tommy asked as Kim looked over at his fuzzy frame and handed him her keys.

"Please get me my glasses. I don't know this place well enough to not hurt myself," Kim said as Tommy took the keys. "When's Jason going to get here?"

"It takes him about an hour to get here," Trini said as Kim covered her eyes.

"I have to try to buy sometime before I tell Tommy what is really going on here," Kim said as Zack and Trini nodded. To be thrown back into this, Kim seemed more than prepared to do whatever she had to do to make it work out all right in the end.

"Here you go," Tommy said as Kim felt around for the glasses before Tommy placed them in her hands. He hated seeing her like this, helpless. It was something that had always made him feel a soft spot for her.

"Thanks, that's much better," Kim said as she put on her glasses then smiled at Tommy. It had been a very long time since she had really seen him and she had to admit that he had built on everything he had in high school. She, however, couldn't think of him like that right now or she wouldn't be able to think of a way to get herself out of this situation. "Look, I know you still have a lot against me, but it seems I am going to have to explain everything to you."

"Everything?" Tommy asked, tentatively, as Kim nodded her head yes. This was not something that she wanted to do, but she didn't really have much of a choice about it. "I have the feeling I need to sit down."

"Sit down? Tommy, what I have to say is not that bad," Kim said as she followed him into the living room, while Trini and Zack smiled before following them.

"I kinda have the feeling it will be for me," Tommy said as he sat down and Kim sat down across from him.

"When I left Zordon warned me about some things, I didn't think that I needed to take it seriously. Who the hell would want to come after me? A Power Ranger without powers who was living three thousand miles away, but I was wrong about that Tommy. They did come after me and they threatened much more than what has happened. I thought it was all gone, but now they've decided to come after you," Kim said as Tommy's eyes widened and he looked at the others. He was begging her to say something other than what he was thinking, to disprove that she knew about Mesogogg. "Mesogogg's not new, he's just decided that now is the time to break me down."

"Why do you matter so much to him?" Tommy asked as Kim looked away from him and gently rubbed her forehead. This was where things got sticky, if she didn't tell him everything then she would lose any chance of him ever trusting her again, but if she told him everything he was going to hate her, at least at first.

"I matter because I'm the only one that can stop him. He's the man I turned down for you and then the man I had to leave you for, to keep him from becoming your monster as well," Kim said as she stared out the window while she allowed them to let it sink in. None of them had ever heard any of this and she couldn't help but wonder why Zordon didn't tell them, he had known all about it.


	2. Stories Unfold

Tommy sat there letting everything hit him like the ton of bricks it really was. How could he not know about this? How could Zordon keep this from all of them, especially when he knew what it did to all of them? Then again, he now knew that they could do nothing, she really had protected them from something they couldn't handle at the time. There was far too much going on in their lives for them to have one more monster thrown at them. But why take five years to tell all of them about it? Why not tell them as soon as she knew that the threat was just too much for her to handle alone?

"Glad you found your way here. What's going on?" Jason asked as he walked in and saw all of them, sitting there in silence. He at least expected Kim and Tommy to be yelling at each other, but obviously something had already been said to bring about this kind of silence. The silence scared him more than the yelling, at least then the two of them would be venting their frustrations that had been building up for the last several years. This was much more ominous than anything that he had ever seen from the two of them. He had the feeling that his very presence was about to break the spell that had come over them.

"I told them everything," Kim said as she took off her glasses. In all honestly she didn't want to see their expressions and it was just much easier to deal with it this way. She had a legitimate excuse that would keep her away from hurting herself. If she looked at Tommy, she knew what she would see and that was something that she did not need to come from him right now. She needed hope, because she couldn't live without hope anymore.

"Crap," Jason said as he saw Kim gaze over at him and he had to look away. He knew better than anyone else did what all of this had done to her, but it might seem like base treason to Tommy to even mention what he knew. Although they never talked about her, Tommy had to think that he would say something about something this serious. The problem was that Kim swore him to secrecy and he didn't think it was worth risking his health to mention this to Tommy, even if it was just to give him a warning.

"I didn't expect to have to do this either, not at first any ways. I thought that I'd at least be able to say hey first, before I went into a long explanation of why things happened," Kim said as Jason nodded his head, although he knew Kim could not see him. He was the only one here that this story was not new to and although he was going to make Tommy mad, he had to comfort Kim, she needed it much more than him right now.

"It'll be all right," Jason said as he sat down next to her and she blinked as he came into focus.

"I just can't believe it," Tommy said as he stood up and walked over to the window. It disturbed him to look at Kimberly as she was, weak and tired and scared of what might happen to all of them, but more specifically him. He had never expected to see this type of emotion from her again. He thought that she had quit caring about him the moment that she sent the letter and now he was sure that she had never stopped. He just couldn't seem to grasp that all of the emotions that were pent up inside of him really had no one to be directed at. She had done something that he would have never been able to do, she had let him go to protect him. But what had it cost her? What had it cost them? "He's trying to get to you through us? And he's been trying to do that the whole time?"

"At first that wasn't what he wanted to do, he just wanted me for himself, but now he is finally able to go after you. He can't hurt me much more; I can't exactly fight with my eyes like this. He knows that a lot of you are still able to, to say the least. He knows that I can't protect you anymore. Now is the best time for him," Kim said as she closed her eyes in frustration. When she had noticed that she was losing her vision it had bothered her, but now it was much much worse. It made her feel helpless knowing that when her glasses broke, she was of no use to them. She had always been a person of action and now the action was greatly diminished because of her new limitation.

"You can't get contacts?" Tommy asked, as Kim shook her head no. "Why?"

"It'll degenerate my vision even more, from what I've been able to get the professionals to say. I can't really afford any more of that if I can help it," Kim said as Tommy just shook his head. He wished that she would have come to him when all of this happened.

"Kim, why are you here?" Tommy asked, rather bitterly, as Kim snatched her head over towards him. She couldn't see his face, but she knew the expression all too well. He was positively pissed at her and she could do nothing to make him understand that she couldn't help that she had to do this. She had had to give him up to save him.

"Because I still give a damn. I want to make sure all of you are all right. He's my problem, not yours Tommy. I want you to be safe, but I'm a bitch for doing what I had to do to make that real. You don't understand it and you never will," Kim said, bitterly, as she shoved on her glasses and flew out of the room. She couldn't stand to be there any longer and hear the hate in his voice.

"Kim...Kimberly," Jason called as he walked after her and Tommy stood there, stunned. She had never truly gone off on Tommy before and even now he could tell she really cared. She honestly broke up to protect him, but he was not ready to admit that to anyone, much less Kim. He still was not ready to give up being angry at her.

"Damn it!" Tommy yelled as he picked up the nearest lamp and threw it into a wall and watched it shatter into a million pieces. "I better go talk to Kim, she deserves that much from me."

"If not more," Trini muttered as Zack nodded his head in agreement. The two of them just had to talk this out, even if it was hard for them to do it. The others could no longer choose sides, they all knew that. There had been so many times when they had had to choose to invite one or the other, they couldn't do it anymore. It was time that they faced each other and at least tried to talk it out.

-----------

"Kim, don't go, listen to me; it's going to be all right. He'll calm down, just give him some time. It's a lot to take, we both know that," Jason said as Kim snatched her arm out of Jason's grip, as she turned to face him, angry tears rolling down her face.

"How's it going to be all right Jason? How am I going to make him believe how real this is when he doesn't even want me in the same room with him for more than a few minutes?" Kim yelled as Jason wrapped her in a tight hug as she balled up her fists and just hit his chest. She was so frustrated with everything in her life and she just wanted Tommy back, that was all she wanted was to go back in time and heed Zordon's warning. That couldn't happen though, so she had to do something here to make up for it all.

"I don't know," Jason whispered as the bitter sobs began and Tommy walked outside. He hated hearing that from her more than anything else in the world. The sick feeling that he got in his stomach made him want to go back inside. He hated knowing that he had made her break down like this. No matter how he felt, he still hated hurting her.

"I don't want to hear that," Kim said as she violently pushed Jason away and threw down her purse. She was tired of having no certainty in her life. She wanted for someone to tell her what she had to do and she would do it, no matter what it cost her. She desperately needed some direction and was beggin Jason to give it to her, but he had none. He had never been down this road before. "I can't rely on 'I don't knows' anymore. That is why I am in the position I am in today because of an 'I don't know' years ago."

"Kim, please listen to me," Jason said as Kim shook her head no and walked over to her car, before she remembered her purse on the ground.

"If you won't listen to him, listen to me or at least talk to me," Tommy said as Kim and Jason turned to face him. They honestly had not realized that he had come outside, but they both could tell he had heard their argument.

"Why should I?" Kim asked as she bent down to pick up her purse and her glasses slid off the end of her nose. "Damn it."

"Go inside, Jase," Tommy said as Jason nodded his head and went as Tommy picked up Kim's glasses.

"I don't want your pity. Give me my damn glasses so I can be on my way!" Kim yelled at him as she tried to find him, but there were too many blurry shapes for it to do any good. "It's obvious that you don't want me here."

"Only if you agree to talk to me, Kim," Tommy said as Kim stumbled towards his voice and felt around for his face. "Nope, you're not going to slap me."

"Tommy! Let go of me!" Kim yelled as he gently pushed her wrists down and watched as the angry tears fell. "It's bad enough I can barely see you, let me go!"

"I'll give you your glasses, just talk to me," Tommy said as he placed them on her face and she then fixed her gaze firmly on his face. If he was lying to her, he was going to pay.

"You'll listen to me? You promise you will, even if you dont' like what you hear?" Kim asked as Tommy nodded his head and Kim looked at her car. They might as well get this over with, so that they would both be on the same page. "Let's find somewhere away from here."

"Okay, whatever you want," Tommy said as Kim passed Tommy the keys and he just stared at them for a moment. "Kim, I don't think I should drive your car."

"You know the area better than I do and quite frankly my eyes are tired, Tommy. My vision is fine to drive, but it's not wise when I'm upset," Kim explained as Tommy nodded then got into the drivers seat, which he had to adjust before he could go anywhere.

"I just want to ask you one thing," Tommy said as he cranked up the car and looked over in time to see her nod. "With the glasses you're fine?"

"20/20, but you don't want to see what I'm like without them for a long time. I can force myself to squint it clear, but the headache I get is horrible. It kinda pissed me off to hear that he's after all of you now. I still forget every once in awhile that I am almost blind and just go on a rampage," Kim said as Tommy nodded his head and continued down his driveway.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Tommy asked as Kim let out a long sigh. She had had a feeling this question would come up with Tommy.

"I couldn't. It was best for all of us for me to turn my back on you. I didn't want to, but it was the only option I had left. He threatened to kill you and Tommy, I'll be damned if I live to see that day," Kim said as Tommy pulled the car off into a secluded patch of the woods and they both hopped out.

"I could have protected myself; you didn't have to do anything like this. We could have still been..." Tommy said as Kim just shook her head. He could not do that until now, his life had been in a constant battle of some kind for years. He finally got to a point where he had peace and Kim had no more control of Mesogogg's bidding. It had worked out for the best, but she just had a hard time letting Tommy take over something that she had kept secret for years.

"Not at the time. Tommy, you were a Zeo ranger and had to deal with the Machine Empire and Divatox and all sorts of monsters. Mesogogg would have been another problem, one you couldn't handle then. He would have revealed everything that had happened, why I really broke up with you. I knew, in time, you would be able to handle the truth. Now may not be the best time, but you can deal with it, you can learn to trust me again, because without me you cannot defeat him," Kim said as Tommy looked over at her and she reached over and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "I never wanted to do this."

"I know that now, Kim, but it's not been an easy thing to deal with," Tommy said as Kim nodded her head. She had never expected for it to be easy, but it was the safest thing that she could do for them. He was going to have to learn to deal with it if he wanted to be able to work through everything that was ahead of them.

"I know Tommy and it's cruel that I had to do this, but I didn't want you to have to deal with anymore because of me," Kim said as she sat down on the hood of her car and placed her glasses on the hood as well.

"I just don't understand why it took so long," Tommy said as Kim rubbed her eyes.

"It took me this long because I finally found out that I can't do it anymore, Tommy. I've done all I can, I've sacrificed my body and I can no longer do that. I have to look out for what I still can do and giving up what little gymnastics coaching I have left isn't worth it. It's time that I just let all of you take over," Kim said as Tommy nodded, wondering where she was coaching now. He had heard of the new gymnastics school in town, but he had honestly doubted that she had moved that close to him.

"So, what's going to happen? Is he going to just come after me or does he want to get all of us?" Tommy asked as Kim shrugged her shoulders. If she could predict what Mesogogg would do, she would not be dealing with this problem.

"I don't really know, Tommy. He only wants to get back at me and you sure as hell are one of the best ways to get to me, but he may not know that. He may be trying to figure out who he wants to concentrate on for the time being, that's why he hasn't nailed just one of you yet," Kim said as Tommy looked over at her and noticed she had taken off her glasses. He honestly felt like he could take his first good look at her in years.

The light and excitement that had once been in her eyes was now gone. He didn't know if that was because of hard times or because of her eyesight. God knew that he had missed this woman, but putting himself back out there was something he was not ready for. Sure, he wanted his rightful chance to be with her, but there was a lot more that needed to be done before that happened. There was a lot more that he needed to be sure of before he could even decide and he could only hope that she would understand that.

"You don't have anything to say?" Kim asked as Tommy snapped out of his thoughts and watched as Kim felt around for her glasses and her hand happened to land on his thigh, which made him jump at the unexpected contact. "Sorry, Tommy. I'll get them, I go through this every morning."

"You don't need them," Tommy said as Kim tilted her head towards him and smiled. "What do you think I can do now that I couldn't do a couple of years ago?"

"Tommy, I don't know, but I can't fight anymore, not the way I used to. Billy could at least focus without his glasses; I'm no good. And you can correct me if I'm wrong, but haven't you already had a run in with Mesogogg? When you found some powerful gems on a little island in the middle of nowhere?" Kim asked as Tommy's eyes widened and he stared at her. How could she know that he had had one run-in already? They had managed to keep that out of the news, but that had only been because of some of the connections he had made with the media in the town. He had known that he might need good connections one day.

"How'd you know that?" Tommy asked as Kim smiled and looked up at the sky. "Come on, Kim."

"I've been watching all of you for years. Have you ever seen a flash of pink in the sky and wondered what it was? Or maybe just thought that you were imagining things?" Kim asked, as Tommy's mouth dropped open and from the silence Kim knew it was best to go on. She knew that he was finally putting together some things that he should have put together a long time before. "I've jumped around the world to stop him from attacking all of you. I needed to come here. I needed to be where I could help all of you with what I know."

"You don't need to worry about us anymore. You need to take care of yourself now," Tommy said, as Kim shook her head no. "Kim, you're not even twenty-five and you're…you're…"

"Tommy, my eyes don't stop me near as much as my heart. Sometimes I just give up because it's easier, this is the one thing that I promised myself I'd never give up on. Now I have to, I have to put it in your hands and hope that you will take care of it because I can't anymore, I just can't," Kim said as Tommy picked up her glasses and scooted towards her.

"You don't have to," Tommy whispered as he put his arm around her and she gently leaned on him. "I'll find someone to take the powers and then we'll take care of it.

"You can't be one of them," Kim said looking up at his face and seeing him smile.

"I may have to be," Tommy said as Kim looked away from him and nodded her head that she understood. She just didn't want him out there. She wanted for him to be safe and she couldn't see that happening if he went out there. "We may want to go back, you know they'll talk."

"Let them," Kim said as she closed her eyes and rested against him.

"Kim, I'm not sure if I'm…" Tommy began as Kim looked up at him and nodded.

"Sorry, I should have thought about that," Kim said as she straightened up and looked out into the woods. "I've just missed you."

"Yeah, same here, but I need time and lots of it," Tommy said as Kim began trying to find her glasses again and Tommy gently slipped them on her face. "Give me sometime and I'll give you a chance."

"Thank you," Kim said as he gave her a hug and she then hopped off the hood of the car. "Come on."

Tommy had never thought this was where his life would be now. At one time, he had seen himself married to Kim with a couple of kids, when that idea was shattered he gave up, in some ways. Now she just landed back in his life and he knew the good it might do, but he also saw the reality. A being was after him because of Kim and that proved so many things that he had long denied. He thought he could let it sink in and it would be all right. He was not so sure about that anymore.

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"Do you think they're fighting?" Trini asked, as Jason shook his head no. He knew Kim might be mad at Tommy, but she knew when to take that away, for the good of everyone. "Then what's taking them so long?"

"Maybe they finally decided to let go," Zack said as Trini and Jason sighed. They both wished that was it, but they highly doubted it.

"As much as we all want that to happen I really doubt it. I kinda think that they will do a lot more fighting, even if they cleared some things up," Jason said as they nodded. Tommy and Kim were going to be at each other throats until they got everything straightened out and that was going to take longer than one night.

"Yeah and I don't know how much she can take. Tommy's got a lot of pent up anger to deal with," Trini said as Zack nodded his head in agreement.

"She can take a lot, she has, but dealing with Tommy will push her. He still doesn't completely understand why," Jason said as Trini and Zack looked at each other then Jason.

"Why did you know?" Trini asked as Jason's face tensed and he looked away from Trini. Kim was not going to be happy with him.

"I saw it. I saw the first time he really attacked; Kim almost died but she was and is determined he won't get us," Jason said as Trini and Zack both nodded. They understood why Kim would do that, but she could have asked for help, they would have helped.

"But what's happened to change her mind?" Trini asked as Jason shrugged his shoulders. Kim hadn't told him and he didn't dare ask. It was something that was far too personal.

"You can ask, but I didn't want to," Jason said as Trini nodded as they heard the door open and looked back over to the others.

"You two still friends?" Zack asked as Kim nodded and Tommy smiled down at her.

"I think so, but I'm going to need some help. We've got to find rangers," Tommy said as they gave him a curious look. "I found some gems that will work well as a power source for morphers on that damn island."

"I'm glad you finally agree with us about the name," Jason said as Tommy just shook his head. He had to admit that they had been right to cal it that, he had just finally gotten all the conformation that he needed to join them.

"I'll see you around," Kim said as she gave Trini, Zack, and Jason hugs. She didn't want to push Tommy anymore. She knew that he needed some space and time and she had to give it to him. She had to give him time to think all of this out on his own. "Call me when you find them Tommy, you're going to need my help."

"Please tell me it's not as bad as it sounds," Trini said as Tommy looked away from her and looked over at the door Kim had not completely closed. He couldn't lie to her, they had a very long road ahead of them.

"He can't do that, none of us can," Jason said as Tommy stood up and walked into the kitchen. He might as well get down to business.


	3. Rangers Accidentally Found

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own any of the characters in this story, unless otherwise noted and that will be put up here when the time is right.

"Class…class. Attention please," Tommy said as he walked into his last class of the day. Principal Randall had just handed him some horrible news, he had detention duty this afternoon, with three students that hated each other, and that meant that the all important Power Ranger search must be delayed. This was the sort of news he expected when he got to school late, with his shirt half-buttoned; he didn't like getting this sort of news when he was actually having a good day. "Class!"

"Whoa, what's gotten into him?" Kira muttered as he slammed his books on the desk and glared out at the class. Dr. O was usually a pretty calm person, but he was jumping off of the cliff today for some reason.

"James, Ford, McKnight, you have detention with me after school today," Tommy said as they looked at him in shock, Dr. O knew this was pure torture for the three of them and it was sure to be of some sort of torture to him as well, but he was going to make the most out of it, if at all possible. "Not my choice, just the messenger. Meet me outside and I'll explain everything that is going on to you. Now, the problems on page 248 are calling your names. If you have any questions, I'll be here all class to answer them."

"This is crazy, I have to be stuck with you all afternoon," Conner murmured to Kira as she nodded her head in agreement and turned to the page Dr. O had assigned. 'They might as well get down to work.

----------

"Why do we have to serve detention together?" Kira asked as Dr. O shrugged his shoulders and picked up his books. The other two had things to do before they had to meet up for detention.

"I'm just doing what Principal Randall said. I don't have much of a choice if I want to keep my job. Just be glad we're not staying at the school," Tommy said as Kira gave him a confused look. How in the world had he gotten clearance to leave the school? Or had he even gotten clearance? Was he just going off on his own, not really caring about the consequences? "Ethan, Conner, glad to see you found my car."

"This is your jeep?" Conner asked as Tommy unlocked the door and nodded his head yes. He had never really thought about what he drove, as this was just his favorite car. His other one was for whenever he had to load up and go with his friends somewhere. "Dude, you're too old to have something like this."

"Don't ever call me dude again," Tommy said as he undid his tie and hung it around the rearview mirror. His cell phone then rang and he couldn't help but give it an odd look. Who would be calling him now? One look at the caller-id told him that he didn't know the number, but he felt that he needed to answer it anyway, something was not right. "Hello."

"Tommy," Kim whispered as she squatted down behind a garbage bin. Mesogogg had been able to find her and had managed to sling off her glasses as he smacked her to the ground. Lucky for her, something else had gotten his attention long enough for her to make a desperate phone call. She needed him to come or at least send someone else, because she couldn't defend herself now.

"Kim? What's wrong?" Tommy asked as he motioned for them to get into the jeep. Something was not right; she had said that she'd leave him alone, so why was she calling? And how had she gotten his phone number?

"I'm next to some pizza place in Reefside, in an alley. He attacked again," Kim said as she squinted around. As she looked up she saw a dark blur in front of her, which could only mean one thing right now. "Tommy, hurry, please. Tommy!"

"Kim…Kim…come on answer me…Kim!" Tommy yelled into his phone then flipped it shut. He knew something bad was happening, he just had to get there as quickly as possible. That is why he floored it out of the teacher's parking lot, causing many of the students to stare.

"Who's Kim?" Conner asked as Kira sat up from being slung across Conner's lap.

"A friend, in trouble," Tommy said as his phone rang again and he gave it a desperate look. He could only hope that that was one of the others saying that they had Kim and that she was all right. He could calm down and just come check on her at their place this evening. "Ethan, answer it and if it's Kim keep her on the phone."

"Hello," Ethan said as Tommy sped down the road. He could only think of one pizzeria in town with an alley next to it. He just prayed he could get there in time. He knew that she probably couldn't see a damn thing now and that screwed her over more than anything else did. She couldn't fight him if she couldn't see him.

"Put Tommy on the phone, please, put Tommy on the phone," Kim cried as Ethan heard a strangled yell and looked over at Dr. O. He had no clue how to handle this sort of phone call and he hoped that Dr. O would help him.

"Just tell her to hold on," Tommy said as he heard Kim scream through the phone and pressed the accelerator even further towards the floor.

"Hold on, we'll be there soon," Ethan said as he heard Kim let out a scream again.

"Tommy! Please hurry!" Kim yelled as Tommy's jeep screeched to a halt and he jumped out of his jeep, barely letting it come to a full stop.

"Leave her alone!" Tommy roared as he stepped into the alley and Mesogogg looked back at him. This was what he had been waiting for, to see if Tommy dared to show up and face him for her.

"Dr. Oliver, we meet again," Mesogogg said as he tightened his fingers around Kim's neck and lifted her from the ground as her phone fell out of her hand.

"Let her go!" Tommy roared as he picked up a pipe and stalked towards Mesogogg.

"Kill him, Tommy," Kim muttered as Tommy looked at her, then heard his three students run up behind him. Obviously they had heard the phone clatter to the ground and had to be wondering what was happening, but would they understand the actions he had to take? Would they judge him if he actually did kill this being, with only a pipe as a weapon? If he did, he would have a lot of explaining to do, but if he didn't he might lose Kim.

"He can't do that, sweetie. He's not strong enough," Mesogogg hissed as Tommy swung at Mesogogg's head and Kim dropped to the ground, gasping for breath, but still alive. Tommy had managed to scare him enough that he wanted to be able to flee easily without her added weight. "You're her little protector, why did you leave her alone for so many years? Why haven't you protected your pretty Miss Hart?"

"Kill him, Tommy," Kim whispered, as Tommy swung again and Mesogogg cowered from the look in his eyes. He then dove through an invisaportal before Tommy could hit him again. He knew he would not be so lucky as to not receive a deadly blow by that look.

"He's gone," Tommy said as he squatted down next to Kim and helped her sit up, while brushing the hair out of her face so that he could look her in the eyes and assure that she was only scared. "I'll take you back to my place and get you cleaned up."

"Do you see my glasses Tommy?" Kim asked as she felt Tommy's face and he shook his head no. They had either been crushed or Mesogogg had taken them with him. "Damn."

"Come on, I got you," Tommy said as he picked Kim up and looked back at the three shocked teens. They had no clue how to react to this and their actions were not helping them, any. They needed to be hauling ass back into his vehicle, but they didn't knkow that. "Ethan, Kira, Conner, this is Kimberly Hart. I guess we have a lot to explain to you."

"I need to go to the hospital," Kim said as she felt Tommy shake his head no. "I'm having a hard time breathing, Tommy. Take me to the hospital."

"Don't worry, I have enough to take care of you and several other people at home, you'll be fine," Tommy said as he placed Kim in the passenger's seat and buckled her in. "It's going to be all right."

"Dr. O, do you want us to come along?" Kira asked as Tommy nodded his head yes as he looked at the three of them. They might solve a problem for him, they just didn't know it.

"You might be just what I need, but let's swing back by the school so Conner can pick up his car," Tommy said as they hopped in and Tommy looked over at Kim for a brief second. He knew that he needed to leave as soon as possible, someone had had to hear all the noise they made. "Hold on for just a little while, Kim."

"Don't worry about that Tommy," Kim whispered as Tommy zipped down the street towards the school and then his home.

-----------

"Wow," Conner said as Tommy pulled up to his home and quickly shut off the jeep and hurried to get Kim out of the vehicle. She had gotten worse the closer he had gotten to his home.

"Conner, no time to oogle at his house," Kira said as she pulled him out of the car as Dr. O carried Kim to the door.

"Can you hold yourself up?" Tommy asked as Kim nodded her head yes, as Tommy propped her against the door jam and unlocked the door.

"Check on others," Kim mumbled as she finally fainted against Tommy's shoulder as he picked her up again.

"Pull that jaw," Tommy said as Conner pulled it and a piece of the floor opened.

"Who the hell are you?" Conner asked as Tommy looked over at him and smiled. He had expected to hear something like this when they figured out that something was definitely odd about him. He might as well explain it and see exactly how they reacted to it.

"A Power Ranger, actually a former one to be more specific, so was she," Tommy said nodding towards Kim, who was still passed out in his arms. "All of this happened because she wanted to protect us. Why did she want to do that?"

"You've got to be kidding," Kira said as the light in the Command Center flashed on and their jaws dropped open.

"Does it look like I'm kidding?" Tommy asked as he placed Kim on a table and walked over to get the oxygen mask. She was going to need it for awhile be the looks of things. "I have to make some phone calls, feel free to look around."

"This is all just too weird," Ethan said as he walked over to the modules.

"That coming from a computer geek is not very comforting," Conner said as Ethan glared over at him, but was prevented from making a nasty retort.

"Don't get into it, okay? I think we need to worry more about what all of this means to us," Kira said as they encircled a round table with three gems on it. "I wouldn't…"

"Wouldn't what?" Conner asked as he grasped the red gem and the blue and yellow gems flew towards Ethan and Kira.

"Do that," Ethan finished as he looked at the gem in his hand. "This can't be good."

"Just depends on who you are," Tommy said as he looked at the three of them. He had thought that one of them might get curious enough to actually touch a gem and risk it bonding with themselves. "You've been chosen, but you can decide to call it quits before things get too heated."

"We're Power Rangers?" Conner asked as Tommy nodded his head yes. "You tricked us."

"Technically, I didn't. You came here of your own free will, I told you I was a Power Ranger and you still took a gem. I say you are as much to blame as I am," Tommy said as Kim's eyes fluttered open and he walked over to her with a smile on his face. He was really worried about her, but he was glad to see that she had woken up on her own. "Hey, honey. Good to see you again."

"How long was I out?" Kim asked as she continued to take shallow breaths. She couldn't see the astonished teen's faces and even if she had been able to, they'd have a lot to explain to her.

"About fifteen minutes, I've seen worse from you," Tommy said as Kim tried to locate him, but couldn't. She really just wanted to be able to touch him, to know that he was real. "I'm right here, it's all right, everything's fine."

"And the others?" Kim gasped as Tommy took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"They're fine and I have good news for you," Tommy said as she turned her face towards his voice.

"What's that?" Kim asked as Tommy let go of her hand and pulled the three new rangers to her side.

"We have three new rangers, Ms. Hart," Tommy said as Kim gave them a weak smile before Tommy walked them over to the side. "Guys, think about it tonight. I need to take care of her right now."

"We'll help," Kira said as Tommy smiled, but shook his head no. He needed to do this on his own. "But, Dr. O."

"Don't 'but Dr. O' me, Kira. That creature may not know much, but he knows I still care. I don't want him to know we have rangers and I don't want any of you here in case something happens. Go home and think long and hard about it," Tommy said as they nodded their heads, knowing they would not deny this job. They had already seen far too much to turn away from their responsibility.


	4. Contentment

**DISCLAIMER: **I do not own the Power Rangers or anything affliated with the series other than the idea for this story.

"Little help here Tommy," Kim said as she sat up and took off the oxygen mask. The rangers had been gone for a few hours, but she really had no clue as to what was going on. During that time she had heard Tommy making something and the only thing that she could think of was a morpher, which they were all going to need soon. Mesogogg was not going to let them sit around and prepare; they were going to have to do all of this on their own and very quickly from what she had seen.

"You feeling better?" Tommy asked as Kim nodded her head yes and she felt her way off the table and started stumbling towards his voice. She wanted for him to comfort her, even if he didn't want it. "I got you."

"Thanks," Kim said as she felt around for Tommy's hand and grabbed it, as he gently encased her hand. "I'm sorry Tommy. I didn't mean to be a burden to you. I'll be gone as soon as I can."

"I'm just glad I got there in time, so don't worry about being a burden to me," Tommy said as he steered her over to a chair and sat her down. He wanted to hold her, to comfort her, but he was afraid of what might happen. He was afraid of what he might do to himself. "Who's your eye doctor?"

"I can't remember his name right now. It's the only eye doctor in town," Kim said as Tommy nodded his head that he knew who she was talking about. "That's another pair of glasses my insurance won't cover."

"It'll be all right," Tommy said, as Kim shook her head no. "Nothing else is going to happen to you, I promise."

"We both know you can't guarantee that, Tommy, although you want to," Kim said as she placed her head on her arms. She was tired of having to live like this, she just wanted to be normal again, if that was even possible.

"I just have a little bit more to do, then I'll take you upstairs," Tommy said as Kim nodded, and Tommy saw the sad look on her face. "Don't be sad, it's going to work out."

"I'm completely useless without my glasses, I can't even protect myself," Kim said as Tommy looked over at the half finished morphers, then put down his tools. Hayley could come help him when she got off work, he knew that Kim's emotional well-being needed to be helped if she was going to make it.

"You need a pick me up and I need…well I don't think a beer would be appropriate right now, but it is what I need," Tommy said as Kim snatched her head towards him. Obviously he had just hit another sore spot for Kim that he didn't know about.

"You drink? When did that happen?" Kim asked as Tommy grabbed her hand and she jerked it away. She did not want for him to touch her.

"Not often, just when I've had a stressful day and you cannot say that this day was a perfectly peaceful day," Tommy said as Kim stood up and started feeling her way towards the exit. She needed to get away, now. "Kim…"

"No, I send you to drinking. Don't touch me, leave me alone," Kim said as she bumped into the stairs and then started feeling her way up them.

"Kim, I had a bad day before you were attacked. This doesn't have anything to do with you," Tommy said as he put his hands on her waist and she batted them away. She could make it up the stair on her own. She did not need any help from him.

"You don't understand Tommy. Mesogogg, he drank when he was human and he was abusive, to everyone. I can't stand drinking because of that," Kim said as she hit her head and muttered a couple of curse words, which made Tommy stifled back laughter. Even mad, she was cute and she always had been, except when she was in her full blown fury.

"Okay, I get it, no beer Kim. You can't leave, you're basically blind and I'm basically screwed until I can get you to the doctor," Tommy said as Kim turned around and glared at him.

"You don't have to help me! I'm fine by myself!" Kim roared as Tommy grabbed her hands and walked her off the stairs, he did not want to risk her falling back down them.

"What's going on?" Hayley asked as she walked into the kitchen to see Tommy glaring down at a petite woman.

"More Mesogogg problems. Can you go downstairs and finish the morphers?" Tommy asked as Kim wheeled around to try to locate Hayley.

"Who are you?" Kim asked as Hayley looked between her and Tommy, wondering why the woman would demand an answer in such a tone. "Come on, someone spill it, I can't exactly see your facial expressions."

"She's blind?" Hayley asked as Kim grabbed Tommy and pulled his face down to where she could see his expressions. She absolutely hated being left out of the loop.

"Pretty close, but I can still see enough to not be legally blind," Kim said as she stared into Tommy's eyes, now able to read his emotions much better. "Will you answer me?"

"This is Hayley, she's a friend of mine that happens to be a rocket scientist. You didn't think I made that on my own, did you?" Tommy said as Kim gave him a perturbed look. "Sorry, I keep forgetting."

"Big surprise," Kim muttered as Tommy gave Kim a harsh look and Hayley hid the smile on her face. This girl must know Tommy very well to say that, he had gotten much better at covering his tracks lately.

"Kim, we don't need to get into a fight," Tommy said as he guided her over to a chair and she sat down, rather reluctantly. "I'll be back in a little bit."

"Okay," Kim said as Tommy and Hayley walked down to the Command Center.

"Wow, when are the two of you going to call each other for a date?" Hayley joked as Tommy got a sad look in his eyes. "Oh…you really do like her, don't you?"

"Actually love her, but I need time, more time than I think I am going to have," Tommy said as Hayley gave him a sympathetic look. She knew who she was now and she knew that Tommy had to be fighting a battle that he had thought was over years ago.

"That's your Kim," Hayley said as Tommy nodded his head yes. There was nothing else that he could say about her that would describe her any better.

"I asked her for more time, so I could get things straight and I now know why Mesogogg has taken such an interest in me," Tommy said as Hayley gave him a questionable look. "He's been after all of us for years, but Kim has been able to hold him off until now."

"Tommy, go be with her, I'll finish this for you. The rangers stopped by and they actually seem to be accepting it all right, for now at least," Hayley said as Tommy gave her a hug and then left the Command Center.

"What do you want to eat?" Tommy asked as Kim looked up at him and shrugged her shoulders. "Come on, you always have an opinion."

"Whatever you want is fine with me, Tommy, I'm just tired," Kim said as Tommy gave her a concerned look and then went over to his freezer and pulled out some chicken and then Italian dressing out of the fridge. If she was going to be here, he planned to make her time as enjoyable as it could be.

"You want to go lay down?" Tommy asked as Kim nodded her head yes and then stood up.

"I think I can find the way," Kim said, as she knew that Tommy had stopped to help her, but she would be fine. She had learned to cope over the past few years.

"Okay, just yell if you need me," Tommy said as Kim nodded head as she felt her way out of the kitchen and towards the living room. "God help me."

"Yeah, I agree," Hayley said as she walked up the stairs. "They're done, you must have had a real head start on me."

"A couple of hours. I'm more worried about how we're going to hide her bruises because she has to go to the eye doctor tomorrow, if at all possible," Tommy said as Hayley nodded. "I guess I'll have to take part of the day off."

"I can take her," Hayley said as Tommy looked over at her and shook his head no. He felt that he needed to be the one with her. "Tommy, you know you'll be missing enough school with ranger things. Just let me do this for you."

"Okay, but don't be surprised if she's touchy," Tommy said as Hayley smiled and then gave him a hug. "You want to stay?"

"No, I think the two of you need time together, maybe you'll get more things straightened out," Hayley said as Tommy gave her a grateful smile. He was just being nice and was secretly glad that Hayley understood that he needed to be with only Kim tonight. "Call me tomorrow with a time."

"I will," Tommy said as he placed food in the oven then walked Hayley to the front door. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bright and early," Hayley said with a laugh as Tommy nodded then closed the door. He then walked into the living room and sat down in his comfy, old recliner. Kim had already nodded off, so he didn't dare to turn on the television, he just sat there letting his thoughts engulf him.

-----------

"This is absolutely insane," Conner said as Kira and Ethan nodded. They all agreed that they wanted to be rangers, but they still couldn't get over the un-realness of the moment. They had heard the occasional story from someone from Angel Grove, but other than that, the Power Rangers seemed fake. They weren't anymore, not to them at least.

"I'm sure they felt the same way," Kira said as Conner and Ethan nodded. "At one time they were new too."

"Yeah, but that was close to ten years ago. They probably have forgotten what it was like to have these jitters," Conner said as Ethan shook his head in disagreement. "Well what do you think since you know more than we do?"

"I actually think that they know a lot more than we do and that they remember exactly what it was like. I think it would be hard to completely block out something of that magnitude," Ethan said as Conner and Kira nodded.

"But why not explain anything to us?" Conner asked as Kira and Ethan could only stare at him. Had he not even been in the same room with them this afternoon? "What did I say?"

"You didn't notice Kim was passed out," Kira said as Conner's mouth formed an 'o' while the other two just shook their heads. "That's why he didn't explain anything to us. He has priorities to be taken care of first. I'm sure that he'll explain things to us when the time is right, but he had to take care of her."

"But who is she? I've never seen her around town before and he seemed to know her pretty well," Conner said as Ethan gave him an odd look. "I'd notice and remember someone that hot."

"That talk will get you in a world of trouble with Tommy," Hayley said as they looked over at her. "We're friends and let's just say that he has had second thoughts about their friendship."

"So that's his girlfriend?" Conner asked with just a hint of disgust evident. He really couldn't think of Dr. O having a girlfriend or any significant other.

"No, that's what's so sad about it. He wants it, but he doesn't want to get hurt again," Hayley said as she sat down next to Kira.

"You know you have to tell us the story," Kira said, as Hayley shook her head no. "Come on, you tell us all of this then quit on us."

"Tommy needs to be the one to explain everything. It is his business, after all," Hayley said as the three of them exchanged a glance. It looked like they suddenly had more to ask Dr. Oliver about.

-----------

"Kim, wake up," Tommy said as he gently shook her shoulder and her eyes blinked awake. "You feeling better?"

"Not really, can you come closer," Kim said as Tommy moved his face closer to hers. "You have a bruise."

"I can deal with it," Tommy said as Kim continued to stare at him and reached over to touch the bruise. "Ah!"

"That's what I thought, put some ice on it Tommy," Kim said as Tommy gently touched her neck and she grimaced as well.

"Right after we eat, we'll deal with these," Tommy said as Kim sat down and held out her hand, which Tommy took and then pulled her off the couch.

"Thank you for saving me, Tommy," Kim said as Tommy placed his arm around her and she leaned on him. She couldn't help but notice that he was picking her up some as they walked, but she was grateful as she was so exhausted.

"You're welcome," Tommy said as he pulled out a chair and Kim sat down in it.

"I'm sorry to be such a nuisance, but you're going to have to fix my plate," Kim said rather helplessly as Tommy placed a plate and glass in front of her.

"Kim, it's all right, I understand," Tommy said as Kim shut her eyes and took in a deep breath. She hated being dependent on other people every time her glasses broke. "Don't Kim, it's fine."

"It is for you, but I'm tired of always having to depend on people. I want to be normal again," Kim said as Tommy let out a gentle laugh and Kim stabbed a forkful of food, waiting to hear what he was laughing about.

"Kim, you used to be a Power Ranger. I don't think you can ever be normal after that," Tommy said as Kim nodded her head in agreement.

"But you can wish, haven't you ever wished for it? Haven't you ever wished that you could have a normal life?" Kim asked as Tommy looked down at his plate. He was shocked that she could still see through him so well, but he knew that this was Kim. Why should several years apart change her?

"I wish for it everyday, but I'll never have a normal life, Kim and neither will you. There's not much that we can do about it now," Tommy said as Kim accidentally knocked over her glass and she then shoved her food away and stood up. "It's no big deal, I'll get it."

"This is exactly what I'm talking about, Tommy," Kim said as she marched off into the living room, while managing to stub her toe.

"Here you go," Tommy said passing Kim her plate and fork as he sat down next to her and noticed the frustration coming through her features. "Kim, you have the right to have things happen, you can't help it. I'm not mad."

"I know, but I'm mad at myself, after two years I still can't cope without my glasses," Kim said as Tommy put his arm around her and she leaned on him before straightening herself up. Tommy needed time and she certainly was not giving him that right now. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Tommy asked as she scooted away from him and began silently eating her supper. "Kim, what's going on?"

"You want time, I need to give you that," Kim said as she concentrated on her plate and felt Tommy stand up, although she was not sure where he was going. Tommy walked over to the other couch and looked down at his plate. He was not hungry anymore and he couldn't believe himself. She was right he had asked for his space a couple of days ago, but right now he no longer wanted space. He, however, knew it was best to give her some distance until he had his thoughts together.

"Here you go," Tommy said handing Kim a bag of ice as he picked up her plate and she looked at the bag then watched Tommy's blurry shape leave the room.

"Tommy…" Kim murmured as he walked back in and settled down in front of her.

"It's okay, I know you're just trying to do right by me," Tommy said as Kim held out the pack of ice and Tommy smiled as he sat down on her right side. "You ice me and I'll ice you?"

"Sounds like a good trade off," Kim said as she placed her head on his chest and the ice on his shoulder while Tommy took care of her neck.

"Kim," Tommy said as she tilted her head up and he moved the ice over.

"Hm?" Kim asked as Tommy closed his eyes and gave himself a final mental smack. He was not going to ask her back out, not yet anyway, he needed to know more and right now was a good time for that.

"How did he become Mesogogg?" Tommy asked as Kim squirmed and he held her still. He needed to know all of this if he was going to be able to really help.

"He found my morpher one-day, thought it would be funny to play around with it, he didn't really know what it was. Then he eventually figured out what it was. After I rejected him, he figured that only a living monster would keep me away from you and he dug far enough he was able to find some source of evil willing to turn him into a monster. He's haunted me ever since then," Kim said as Tommy nodded and rubbed his chin on top of her head. He wanted to take this away, but he couldn't manage it. He couldn't make her feel better.

"So why is he trying to kill you now?" Tommy asked as Kim rolled over to where he had full access to her neck and she had full access to his shoulders.

"I don't know Tommy, for years he was happy just destroying my life, lately he's moved onto other things, like trying to kill all of you," Kim said as Tommy touched a particularly bruised spot and she let out a low moan.

"It's not going to happen," Tommy sad as Kim just gave Tommy a sad smile. "I know, no guarantees, but as long as we're all here, we'll protect each other, somehow."

"But, Billy," Kim said as Tommy placed a finger on her lips and she stared at him, wondering what he had to say that would make him do that.

"Is fine on Aquitar, I doubt he'd go there just to get back at you and if it'll ease your mind I'll contact Billy," Tommy said as he leaned closer and Kim turned her face away from him. "Please don't turn away from me, I can't take it."

"This is a lot less time than I thought you would need," Kim said as she looked up at him and he smiled.

"I hate seeing you like this," Tommy said as she just shook her head and he gently moved the ice again.

"I hate being like this," Kim said as Tommy brushed a piece of hair out of her face. "Tommy, don't do anything you are going to regret."

"I regret pushing you away," Tommy said as he gave her a gentle kiss and then pulled her closer to him. "I've missed you."

"Glad to hear that," Kim said as she let out a yawn and Tommy looked over at the clock.

"Give me that," Tommy said as Kim released the bag and sat up. "I think we need to go to bed."

"The couch is fine for me, Tommy. I'm really no good at stairs, I was just mad earlier," Kim said as Tommy walked back over and scooped her up. "Tommy, really, I'm fine down here."

"If anyone is sleeping on the couch, it's me," Tommy said as Kim gave him a reproachful stare and he just smiled at down at her. He still had to be a gentleman, even if she didn't want for him to be one. "We probably need to wash what you have on, since I don't know where your place is."

"Can I borrow a t-shirt?" Kim asked as Tommy nodded and then placed her down on his bed.

"Yeah, let me find one," Tommy said as Kim felt around on the bed and then grabbed one of the pillows and hugged it to herself. "Here you go, I'll be right outside the door, just yell when you're done."

"Tommy, where's the bathroom?" Kim asked as she stood up and began feeling around the wall.

"Hold on, I'll show you," Tommy said as he grabbed her hand and walked her over to the bathroom.

"Thanks I should be able to find my way around," Kim said gently closing the door as Tommy looked around his room and sighed. It was obvious that he was a bachelor, but as long as Kim got a good night's sleep, he didn't really care. "Here you go."

"Good night," Tommy said as he gave her a hug and he felt her wrap her arms around him in return.

"Night," Kim said as she crawled into bed and curled up under the covers as Tommy switched off the light and silently closed the door.

AN: I hope that you have liked the story so far. Thank you so much to all of those that have reviewed; it's nice to get back into the writing game. Thanks again and I hope to hear more from you soon.


	5. Stranglehold

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own the Power Rangers or anything affliated with them, when I do own something, it'll go up here.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

"Damn," Tommy said as he swatted at his alarm clock. It was five o'clock and he had a hell of a day in front of him. He knew he had to get in a good work out and he could only hope he wouldn't wake Kim when he went to get his clothes. She needed to get her rest, as her body had to be reeling from the pain that had been inflicted yesterday. He, however, needed some sanity today and that all began with a good workout.

"Tommy," Kim murmured as he stumbled around picking up his sneakers, shorts, and shirt. He had failed at keeping quiet enough for her to stay asleep, but he could hope that she would fall back to sleep as soon as he left.

"Shh, go back to sleep. It's only my morning routine," Tommy whispered as he gently pushed her back down on the bed and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I'll come get you when breakfast is ready."

"Okay," Kim murmured as she rolled back over and drifted back off to sleep.

"I thought I'd find you down here," Hayley said as Tommy continued to throw punches at his punching bag. He barely heard Hayley say anything to him, but he did realize that she was there, which was better than what he usually did. He usually would look up and then jump away because he would see her there, where she hadn't been five minutes before. He was legendary for being able to zone out and focus on only what was in front of him. Today, however, he seemed to not want to go that far into his workout today. He seemed to want to stay on the surface this morning. "You all right?"

"Just venting some frustrations, as usual Hayley," Tommy said as he walked over and picked up a towel. "What are you doing here?"

"Well I came to check on the two of you," Hayley said as Tommy gave her a skeptical look and Hayley then sighed. She might as well tell him the truth before he pulled it out of her, which would not be pleasant for either of them. "Actually, I came to see how you were holding up. It has to be hard to be around her so much after the shock you've had. It's got to be messing with your mind a little bit Tommy."

"I kissed her," Tommy said, as Hayley snatched her head towards him as he moved to the next machine without missing a beat. He didn't want to look Hayley in the eyes because of the surprise that he was sure would register there. He didn't want shock and awe; he just wanted for someone to accept it and not question him on why he did it. He was not even sure that he could answer that without having to be overly honest with himself.

"How did I know you wouldn't last long?" Hayley asked as Tommy just shook his head. He would almost bet that his friends had been thinking the exact same thing. He had always been a sucker for Kim, no matter what else happened. "So are you going to jump in head first?"

"Not yet," Tommy said as Hayley gave him an odd look. "I just want to make sure I know what I'm getting into."

"To me you sound like you are sure, Tommy, you're just afraid. You're afraid to really love her again, but Tommy you can't be because you already do, you just haven't admitted it to yourself. You've got to do that soon, for the both of your sakes. It'll hurt you if you keep on waiting for things to just suddenly be solved. They never will be completely solved, but you just have to accept it," Hayley said as Tommy looked over at her, racked his weights, and stood up. There was no way that he was going to be able to work out anymore this morning. He now had far too much on his mind to even attempt it.

"You're right, but telling her that is relationship suicide. I wanted some time from her and she's giving it to me, I need to keep myself in check," Tommy said as he ran up the stairs with Hayley hot on his heels.

"You've got to be kidding; you can't control yourself with her. You kissed her, you're taking care of her, and you saved her life from a creature that nearly killed you only a few weeks ago. Tommy, you're in too deep to try to keep yourself from showing her your true feelings," Hayley said as Tommy heard Kim let out a yell and he sprinted up the stairs. "I'll let myself out!"

"Thanks Hayley!" Tommy yelled down as he ran down the hall and slung the door open to his own room. "Kim…"

"Over here Tommy," Mesogogg said as Tommy wheeled around to see Mesogogg holding Kim up by her neck again, which he knew was not a good thing. She was already injured in that area and she just needed for it to heal, but Mesogogg didn't want that. He seemed to want to kill the woman that he had been after for all of these years.

"Shit," Tommy said as he grabbed a tall lamp, slung off the shade, and began attacking Mesogogg with his remaining energy.

"Good-bye Dr. Oliver," Mesogogg said as he flew threw an invisaportal before Tommy could dive after him.

"Damn it!" Tommy yelled as he tossed the lamp aside and jumped to his feet. "Damn it!"

"Tommy, what's going on?" Hayley asked as Tommy planted himself in front of her car. "Tommy, what happened?"

"He took Kim," Tommy said as Hayley stepped out of her car and caught Tommy in a strong hug. "I have to go to school to warn the rangers. I need you to call Jason, Trini, and Zack, and then get Trini to contact Billy. Mesogogg's asking for one hell of a fight."

"Are you sure you should be driving at all, Tommy?" Hayley asked as Tommy looked over at her and Hayley just turned and walked inside. Tommy was not a person to mess with when he was this thoroughly pissed off and she knew that the driving might just let him get his scatterbrained thoughts together, somehow.

----------

"Dr. Oliver?" Principal Randall asked, tentatively, as Tommy stormed into the office, signed the faculty sheet and was halfway to the door before he even showed any recognition to her voice.

"I'm only working half a day, you need to find a sub for me," Tommy said and then went out the door without another word. He did not have time for any meaningless conversation this morning, even if it was with the principal.

"What's going on with him?" Vanessa Malone asked as Principal Randall shrugged her shoulders. She didn't think it wise to question or stop him. He was in a mood that she had never seen before. He seemed like he was mad about something, but she didn't know what it could be. He actually made it to school on time today, which was always a good thing for Tommy.

"Conner," Tommy said as he walked up behind him and Conner turned to give him a smile, but he stopped halfway. Something had gone terribly wrong for Dr. O to have that look on his face. "Find Ethan and Kira and come to my room, as soon as you can. There are some things that you need to know about."

"Okay," Conner said as he walked off and began looking for Ethan and Kira. He knew that Dr. O didn't have a lot of patience left in him.

"Conner, what's that look for?" Kira asked as she and Ethan walked up to Conner.

"Dr. O wants to see us and by the looks of things, he's pissed about something," Conner said as Kira and Ethan hurried along after him. In a matter of minutes they were standing in Dr. O's room, watching him jot down lesson plans and scan through books.

"Dr. O?" Kira asked, breaking him out of his world. "What's going on?"

"Mesogogg took Kim and he'll kill her if we don't get there in time," Tommy said as he raked his fingers through his hair and then looked up at the ceiling. He had been through this before, but right now he was not prepared to deal with all of the stress it was causing for him. He had not expected to see her be taken away from him, again. He had thought that Mesogogg would be happy to have him thoroughly concerned for her health and safety. He didn't think that he would get that much further and actually capture Kimberly.

"How come I get the feeling we're about to break into the ranger world," Ethan said as Tommy nodded his head yes and slammed down his books on the desk and then continued his frenzied preparations.

"I'll be here for a couple of hours, then I'm going home. Mesogogg's ass is mine," Tommy said as they could only stare at him. Dr. O had always had a mysterious side and now they saw exactly what it was and what it could do. They knew that he must be a deadly fighter, but the look in his eyes let them all know that deadly was probably the least accurate description that they could come up with because there was not a word in the english language to describe that look well enough.

"What are we supposed to do?" Kira asked as Tommy looked up at them and just shook his head. He forgot how inexperienced they really were and he honestly didn't feel like explaining things, but he knew that he had no choice about it. If he did not take the time to explain things to them, they would be left out in the dark and today that did not need to happen. They needed to do this as flawlessly as they could for being new rangers. Kim's life might just depend on them.

"If anything weird happens, come straight to my house even if you have to check out of school. No matter what, come after school, we're going to need your help," Tommy said as the bell rang. "Go to class, everything will be fine."

-----------

"Okay, why the hell are we here?" Jason asked as Hayley glared at him and Trini put her arm around him. They had been lucky enough to get the Aquitarians to teleport Billy here and he was waiting for the explanation along with everyone else. He couldn't be as patient as the rest, especially with the time window that was pressing down upon him.

"Kim has been captured by Mesogogg and Tommy thought I needed all of you. Now, what do you know about finding Power Rangers that I don't?" Hayley asked as Billy and Trini exchanged a glance before Billy spoke.

"Kim doesn't have any powers that we know of, correct?" Billy said as Hayley nodded her head yes. This was not going to be pretty and they all knew that all too well. They knew that the powers left a trace, but a ranger without any powers would not have a trace. That was something that he was certain of, he had seen that when this had happened before. They were going to be in for one hell of a fight right now. "Let's just pray Tommy put in that sort of equipment. Anything changed lately?"

"She was already hurt, I don't know how bad, but I don't think she can take much more," Hayley said as Trini looked over at Billy and the two of them shook their heads. They all knew Kim was resilient, but if Tommy had been worried enough to call all of them in, something was seriously wrong already.

"Please just let her be smart enough to get a tracer," Billy said as he walked over to the computer and began clicking away.

"A tracer?" Hayley asked as Jason and Zack pulled out their morphers and Hayley gave them an odd look. They still carried their old morphers on them? Were they absolutely crazy? Did they want for these beings to continue to come after them, because they had something to prove?

"I set up our morphers as tracers years ago in the event this ever happened. I don't think she had hers on her, but maybe she grabbed one of Tommy's," Billy said as he got a signal for Tommy as the school and another in the middle of nowhere, if that was not Kimberly, then someone had gotten ahold of his morpher without him knowing it. "I've got her, but you're going to have a hell of a time getting there."

"At least we have her," Hayley said as Trini and Billy shook their heads. Something was definitely wrong with the signal and they had only seen it once before and the results had not been in the best interest of the person.

"We won't have her for long," Trini said as Jason and Zack looked at each other then looked away. This was not something they wanted to hear from Billy or Trini right now. They wanted to hear that they had plenty of time to get to Kim and that Tommy didn't need to freak out when he got here. That was not the picture that they were painting and it honestly worried them all. "We need something to get Tommy's attention, something big. It's not going to be long before she disappears from our sights. The tracers only really work for the ranger that originally owned it."

"Zords?" Hayley asked as they looked at her and smiled. It was a good idea, but they knew they could get in trouble for that. The zords tended to be destructive, even if they weren't fighting against evil monsters.

"Last resort; let's just hope for an attack. It's something they'd do at a time like this to try to keep Tommy as far away from Kimbelry as possible," Jason said as he walked over to the morphers and just shook his head. He didn't like the way that things looked right now, for any of them. "They're going to need more than this to be able to sustain a long defensive attack."

"Lucky for all of us, Tommy thought ahead," Hayley said as she punched in a code and steel doors slid open to reveal their bikes.

"I'm sure he wasn't thinking about this happening," Jason said as Hayley nodded then walked over to help Billy.

"You said she was hurt, but did she have her glasses?" Billy asked as Hayley shook her head no and Billy let out a sigh. That was one more thing that they were going to have to worry about and he was not sure that they would be able to compensate for Kim not being able to make it out under her own power. They had only had this happen once before and it had nearly killed Tommy to pull it off. "Tommy will have a plan when he gets here; we all need to be ready for whatever he might ask, no matter how crazy it is."

"Tommy is going to be so pissed it's not even funny, all he is doing right now is fuming," Hayley said as they looked over at her. Had something happened that they didn't know about?

"What's gone on between the two of them?" Zack asked as Hayley looked towards the trap door and then motioned for them to sit, which everyone except Billy did. He had to keep monitoring Kim's signal as long as he could.

"Yesterday she was attacked by Mesogogg and he brought her here to look after her. Sometime last night he must have just let his emotions overtake him. He kissed her and from what I can tell gave her his room last night and slept on the couch. It doesn't sound like he can hold much against her for long, even if he tries," Hayley said as the four rangers exchanged a glance. If Tommy was beginning to commit his heart again, then they were going to see some more emotions than they expected from Tommy. They all knew that he would be mad because it happened in his house, but the added pressure that Tommy was beginning to associate much more with Kim worried them. They now knew that Tommy was not going to be anywhere near rational for the time being.

"So much for taking everything slow," Zack said as Trini covered her mouth. "Tri, what are you thinking?"

"We lose her now, we lose him too," Trini said as they heard the door open upstairs and they immediately moved themselves to productive looking positions. They did not want Tommy to know that they had been talking about him, even though that was rather childish. He probably could figure out that he was going to be the center of their conversation because of his actions.

"Thanks Hayley," Tommy said as he entered the Command Center and saw his teammates standing around. They couldn't do much, but them being here made him feel loads better. It let him know that he would be able to pull this off, even if things didn't seem like they were going to go well. "Billy?"

"I couldn't miss this," Billy said as Tommy stared at him in awe for a moment, then got down to business. These past few hours had given him too long to lull over the details of what needed to be done before he returned. He just hoped that they had done all of it.

"Do you know where she is?" Tommy asked as Billy nodded his head yes. He knew that Tommy knew finding a person was only half the battle, getting to them was often what caused the most problems, especially with only limited resources. He had not even fathomed that this sort of thing would happen so soon, so he did not have some of the devices necessary to jump into another teleportation portal and they did not hav the time to build the technology.

"But we don't know how to get to her, a teleportation system has not been established here, although I can work on that," Billy said as Tommy nodded. He had thought he'd have more time to build something like that, but Mesogogg had other plans.

"That probably wouldn't do much good; we could rarely teleport into Lord Zedd's lair whenever we needed to get to a captured ranger. The only time that a ranger did was when you went after Kimberly," Trini said as they nodded in agreement.

"I know and that was just a rare exception in itself," Tommy said as they just looked at him. "I'm more worried about being able to track her if he moves her."

"I don't think he's going to move her though. I think he wants you to come to him, for some suicidal reason," Billy said as Tommy nodded, but said nothing to them. He had known that it would come to a one on one confrontation, but that was not something that he wanted. He had wanted to be able to resolve this some other way.

"Want to let us in on your plan?" Jason asked as Tommy just shook his head. Nothing would please him more than killing Mesogogg, but he knew that would not realistically happen, not with all of the things that he had stacked against him already.

"The rangers and I will go, hopefully they'll be enough of a distraction that I'll be able to get Kim and get out. That may mean teleporting to the Power Chamber, but I'll do whatever I have to, to get her out safely," Tommy said as they nodded.

"And if that doesn't work?" Hayley asked as Tommy looked over at her and then at his fellow rangers.

"That's where we come in," Jason said as Hayley nodded and they then dispersed to working on their different tasks, which were mentally delegated to one another.

-----------

"Why fight me any more?" Mesogogg asked as Kim struggled to break her bonds, not that that would help her get out faster, but it would make her feel better to know that she could protect herself some.

"Stay away from me," Kim said through clenched teeth as Mesogogg brought a whip down across her chest.

"Wrong answer Ms. Hart, let's try it again," Mesogogg said as he leaned closer to her. "Why keep fighting me, Kimberly?"

"They'll come for me, they'll save me. You know nothing about them," Kim said as he hit her again and slashed open her shirt. She had known it would eventually happen, she had just hoped it would hold out longer.

"Your dear Mr. Oliver can die trying. He won't make it past my tryannadrones," Mesogogg said as Kim glared at him. "We're just waiting on you, come to my side and they'll be free of all worries."

"No," Kim said through gritted teeth as she was hit yet again. She could only hope that they would hurry to her side; she didn't know how much more she could take.

-----------

"School's not over," Tommy said as Kira, Conner, and Ethan rushed in, looking to be scared out of their wits.

"Attack in the city, not Mesogogg, just a lot of the same thing," Conner said as Zack and Jason stood up and picked up their keys. "Who are all of you?"

"No time to explain, let's go. Billy, Trini contact me if there is anything I need to know, our old communicator frequency still works," Tommy said as Billy nodded as Tommy passed out the Dino Rangers morphers.

"What are these?" Kira asked as she slipped on the bracelet and Tommy started up the stairs. "Dr. O?"

"They're morphers and you're going to need them," Tommy said as Jason and Zack hopped into their vehicles and the others piled in.

"Tommy, how much do they know? Let's face it, they may not be ready for this," Jason said as Tommy looked over at Jason. He knew the risks of what might happen, but he knew now was not the time to sit back and wait. He had been down this road far too many times to decide to do that now.

"Why do you think I called all of you? They have the powers, but no expertise; that's what we have. I'm sure Zack is filling them in as well as he can," Tommy said as Jason looked over at him in concern.

"What are you going to do?" Jason asked as Tommy put on the jacket he had grabbed on the way out.

"Dive through the invisaportal when I get a chance. Don't send the rangers after me, I don't want them to be killed," Tommy said as Jason nodded as they drove up on the fight and they jumped out.

"Be careful," Jason said as Tommy ran towards the open invisaportal and managed to dive through as the rangers' battled the tryannadrones.

"Where'd he go?" Zack asked as Jason pointed towards the invisaportal and then jumped into the battle as well. He could only hope Tommy had been right in thinking that he could do this alone.

-----------

Tommy landed on a hard steel floor and he took a moment to get his bearings himself. At the far end of the corridor there was light, but the noise was coming from the other end, which held no light. There was nothing like walking into the darkness and praying you didn't get ambushed, but that was all that he could do. He knew that he had to get to Kim and that meant he'd just have to take his chances about the ambush.

"They'll save me!" Kim yelled as Mesogogg struck her again and the first shriek of pain left her lips. "They'll save me!"

"Just hold on," Tommy muttered as he quietly navigated the corridor until he walked into a steel door.

"The calvary?" Mesogogg asked as he watched the door slide open and he stepped outside. "Funny, no one is here."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Tommy said, from behind him, as he jumped up to grab the lip of the door way and hit Mesogogg with the full force of his body as he swung through, then dove back in as it closed.

"You don't have long, Tommy. He'll get back in," Kim murmured as he glanced down at her and felt his heart jump into his throat as he saw the shirt ripped to shreds.

"Oh God," Tommy said as he reeled from the sight and then scooped her up in his arms.

"Just get me out of here," Kim said as Tommy grasped his old communicator and teleported out, which landed him in the old Power Chamber.

"It's going to be okay," Tommy said as he placed her on the floor. "Why'd it bring me here?"

"Probably closer," Kim gasped as Tommy began scrounging around for medical supplies. He knew it would be awhile before Billy could get here and she needed some medical attention now.

"Billy, Billy, come in," Tommy said as his communicator crackled to life and Kim let out a low moan.

"Yeah, where are you?" Billy asked as Tommy found some old sheets and a bottle of alcohol. It was going to have to do for the time being, hopefully the others would be able to find things that were more suitable.

"The Power Chamber, as soon as my rangers get back load up. I'm going to need your help," Tommy said as he walked back over to Kim and placed the supplies next to her.

"Will do," Billy said as he ended the transmission and Tommy closed his eyes to try to focus. He had very little medical expertise, but he knew that cleaning and bandaging had to be done as soon as possible. Billy could take care of scar management; he had always had a knack for making sure that they didn't show up on them.

"This is going to sting," Tommy said as he ripped off a chunk of the sheet and poured alcohol over the wounds.

"Ah!" Kim moaned as Tommy wiped off the blood. The cuts weren't that deep, but the number did worry him. There was barely any skin that had not been affected and he was honestly disturbed by that. He didn't know how she would be able to heal away from a hospital. "Just take off the shirt Tommy, it's not covering enough for you to really worry about being a gentleman anymore."

"Kim," Tommy said, worriedly as he pulled at the edges and she winced. "I don't know if I should."

"I don't have on a bra, but I have on panties. Take the damn shirt off, scrub me down, and bandage me up. If you do it right, it won't take very long," Kim said as Tommy nodded and then ripped off the remainder of the shirt with ease. "Do what you can, I know it's bad."

"What did you do to deserve all of this?" Tommy asked as he continued to clean the wounds and she writhed in pain.

"I told him you'd save me, that I wouldn't join him," Kim said as she brushed her side against his arm and he then gently rubbed her side to try to calm her down.

"It's almost clean," Tommy said as she gritted her teeth together and nodded. "Come on, sit up."

"You're a good doctor," Kim said as Tommy began wrapping the strips of sheet around her.

"You won't say that once Billy is here," Tommy said as he tied it up as best he could and then sat down behind her and leaned her back against him. "It's going to be okay."

"It always is when you're here," Kim said as she closed her eyes and snuggled against him. "I owe you one."

"You don't owe me anything, Kim," Tommy said as he gently placed his arms around her and placed his chin on her shoulder.

"Thank you," Kim said as she turned and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"You're welcome," Tommy said as his communicator beeped and his quickly answered it. "Yeah."

"Your rangers need to be taken care of; we'll get there as soon as we can," Billy said as Tommy looked at Kim's chest and saw that the bandages were already being bled through. He knew that there was no way to relay to Billy just how bad things were there, but his rangers had priority. Kim would be fine, he wouldn't let anything happen to her.

"I'll try to teleport to you," Tommy said as he grasped the buttons and they went nowhere. "Just get here when you can and bring a few sheets and some old t-shirts and some shorts. She's not going too good."

"You want me to go ahead and send Trini?" Billy asked as he placed an ice pack on Conner's shoulder and walked over to Kira to check and see what needed to be done to her.

"No offense to Trini, but she needs you. This isn't my specialty or hers," Tommy said as Kim tensed as Tommy sat her up straighter so that he could get to his communicator easier.

"Just hold on and we'll be there," Billy said as Tommy ended the transmission and just shook his head.

"Looks like it's just you and me," Tommy said as Kim leaned back against him and closed her eyes. "I know it's hard but try to stay awake as long as you can."

"All I feel like doing is sleeping, Tommy," Kim said as he shook her rather roughly and she let out a low moan. "Why'd you do that?"

"You're losing a lot of blood, you need to stay with me as long as you can," Tommy said as Kim looked down at the blurry red streaks and closed her eyes.

"Okay, Tommy, but whatever happens don't let him get to you," Kim said as Tommy's eyes widened at her reaction to the situation. He knew it was serious, but not serious enough for her to be talking like this.

"You're not going to die, I just want you to stay with me as long as you can. I promise you'll make it," Tommy said as Kim smiled up at him.

"Then why are you worried about me sleeping?" Kim asked as Tommy let out a laugh and then gently pulled her closer to him.

"Because if Mesogogg shows back up, I need you to be with me," Tommy said as Kim nodded, although she didn't know how he was going to get into the Power Chamber. She honestly didn't think that it was possible with all of the defensive barriers that this place had.

"Okay Tommy, just keep me awake," Kim said as Tommy smiled and settled himself in for the wait. They had a long day and it seemed they were going to have a long night ahead of them as well.

-----------

"Kim! Tommy!" Billy yelled as they all walked into the dark Power Chamber.

"Over here," Tommy said as Billy turned and saw the two of them. "She couldn't stay awake, she fell asleep a few minutes ago."

"Good lord," Billy said as he squatted in front of the two of them and tentatively pulled at the bandage, which caused Kim to groan.

"Where do you want her?" Tommy asked as he shifted Kim around in his arms.

"Let Jason and Zack move her and let Trini look you over, just in case," Billy said as Zack and Jason moved her carefully and Tommy watched them carry her away.

"Here's the clothes you asked for," Trini said, as she looked Tommy over. He was fine, except for the blood that seemed to be all over him.

"They're not for me," Tommy said as he stood up and walked off in the direction Billy had headed in. "Kim will need something that is not tight on her. She's going to be sore, to say the least."

"You did a good job," Billy said as he unwrapped the bandages and Tommy walked over to prop her up.

"Why hasn't she woken up?" Jason asked as Billy immediately stopped unwrapping the bandages and began gently slapping Kim's face.

"Come on, Kim," Billy said as her eyes barely opened. "Come on, wake up."

"Where's Tommy?" Kim asked as they all heaved a sigh of relief.

"I'm right here, but you gotta stay with me," Tommy said as she leaned back against him and let out a pain filled cry. "It's okay, it's okay."

"I have some ointment that will help minimize the scarring and then I'll wrap her up again. Other than that, we'll just have to wait," Billy said as Kim reached up and wrapped her hands around the back of Tommy's neck and pulled herself closer to him. "This is going to sting, a lot."

"Thanks for the warning," Kim said as he put on the first bit of ointment and she pulled away from him.

"You gotta stay still, Kim or he'll have to hold you still," Billy said as Kim buried her head in the crook of Tommy's neck and nodded. "I'll be done as soon as I can."

"It's okay, it's all going to be fine," Tommy whispered as Kim's fingernails dug into the back of his neck.

"All done," Billy said as Kim suddenly realized who had been talking to her the entire time.

"Billy? Where'd you come from?" Kim asked as she turned towards him and he smiled up at her.

"I couldn't miss out on something like this. I knew it was trouble if you and Tommy were somehow involved in a disappearance, somebody had to look out for his mental well being," Billy said as Kim smiled and then moved to hug him. "Let me wrap you up first, I'd have to put all that stuff back on you."

"Sit up, Kim," Tommy coaxed as she groaned, then sat up straight.

"Do we have any big ace bandages around here?" Billy asked as Tommy shrugged his shoulders and Billy handed him the sheet. "The pressure will help stop the bleeding if we have one around here."

"He's not going to stop until he gets what he wants Tommy," Kim said as Tommy wrapped the strips of sheet around her torso.

"He's not going to get you," Tommy said as Zack and Jason exchanged a glance.

"We won't let him," Jason said as Trini and Billy walked back in to see Tommy holding Kim in his arms.

"I won't let him," Tommy whispered as Kim nodded as she reached up to give him a kiss, which he accepted as the others smiled at them. They were truly back home again with each other. It was just sad it had taken them this long to get back there.

"Let's get out of here. We need to get you in a bed some time tonight," Jason said as Tommy released her and Kim sat by herself.

"Put these on, then we'll go," Tommy said handing her a t-shirt and a pair of shorts.

"Let's go home," Kim said as she reached out for Tommy's hand and he gently squeezed hers. He had always wanted to hear those words from her and now he did and couldn't help but love the sound of it.


	6. Going Seperate Ways

School 

"Do you think Dr. O is going to make it?" Kira asked as Conner and Ethan shrugged. They had honestly thought he would be back before they left, but he wasn't. Whatever was going on with Kim must have been more serious than anything they could imagine.

"I doubt he's going to leave Kim today," Ethan said as they nodded their heads in agreement. Last night had let them know just how hard Dr. O had fallen for this woman and they knew that he would protect her, even if it hurt him.

"But that doesn't mean he won't send a substitute," Conner said as Billy walked past them into Dr. O's room. "This is going to be cool."

"We don't know him, remember," Kira said as Conner nodded then walked into Dr. O's room. "Conner…"

"Just a simple question for him," Conner said as he walked in and Billy looked up and smiled. He had been warned by Tommy that the rangers might not take it well that he was not there. That was why he sent Billy in the first place.

"Dr. Oliver is taking a personal day, some emergency I'm told," Billy said as Conner nodded and they exited the room.

----------

"How'd you sleep?" Jason asked as Tommy stumbled down the stairs and poured himself a cup of coffee. He looked pretty rough, but Jason didn't think that he needed to mention that fact to Tommy. He was not going to be polite in his response if he dared to say that.

"I didn't," Tommy said as he took a gulp of the coffee and then shook his head to try to clear his thoughts. He had thought of so much in the past few hours and he had to straighten it out before he talked to Kimberly. If he didn't he was going to be in a lot of trouble.

"You're not going to be able to protect her forever," Zack said as Tommy glared over at him, then walked back upstairs.

"There's no use in trying to change his mind, he's determined to keep her safe at least until she heals," Trini said as Jason sat down next to her and placed his arm around her. None of them liked seeing one of their own like this, but there was not much that they could do about it.

"How long do you think that will take?" Zack asked as Trini shrugged her shoulders. There was no telling with that many wounds. "Tommy, hell none of us, have enough time off to wait for her to get back up to 100 percent. It's going to take weeks with an injury that severe."

"Well, he's been able to get in touch with her eye doctor and he's making her some new glasses right now. Once she can see again, it won't be as big of a deal, he'll be able to go back to work," Trini said as Zack nodded his head that he agreed.

"What about her job?" Zack asked as Jason and Trini both smiled.

"She's the boss and she's got a good staff that will take care of things until she is able to get back on her feet and they don't ask any questions, which makes things a lot better," Jason said as Tommy walked down the stairs with Kim in his arms.

"She awake?" Trini asked as Tommy shook his head no and then laid her down on the couch.

"She's bled through these too, will you go into town and get one of those ace bandages Billy was talking about and check with the doctor. He said he'd rush them through since her sight is so bad," Tommy said as Trini and Jason stood up. "Thanks, guys."

"Are you going to rewrap her?" Zack asked as Tommy nodded his head yes and walked over to get the strips of sheet and ointment Billy had left before he had gone in to be Tommy's substitute. Tommy had never thought that he would ask this big of a favor of his friend, but he did and he was so thankful that Billy was good at science. He would be some comfort to his young rangers, although he knew that it wouldn't be as good as him being there.

"As soon as I wake her up, I'm afraid this is going to hurt more this morning," Tommy said as he gently shook Kim's shoulder and she shrugged away from him. All she wanted to do was sleep, so she hoped that Tommy would just leave her alone. "Come on, I need to change your bandages."

"Not the words I wanted to here from you when I woke up," Kim murmured as she opened her eyes and propped herself up, although that was very difficult.

"You've bled through them, again," Tommy said as Kim just shook her head and grabbed his arms to pull herself into a seated position.

"Wrap me up good," Kim said as he undid the bandages and she grimaced as he tugged at particular pieces, some of it had worked it's way into the cuts and was clinging in ways that she never thought possible.

"It looks a little bit better, but I don't know why you're still bleeding," Tommy said as he cleaned the wounds again and she pulled away from him. "I know it burns, but we have to keep these clean to keep you out of the hospital."

"It hurts," Kim murmured as Tommy looked over at Zack and then handed him the ointment. Kim was going to need someone to hold onto during the next part from how she had reacted to the alcohol. "Ah!"

"I know it hurts," Tommy said as Kim wound her arms around him and pulled him closer. "Hey, it's okay, it'll all be over in a few minutes."

"Ah!" Kim cried again as she pulled away from Zack and Tommy gave him a sympathetic look, as Kim clawed the back of his neck. "Jeez!"

"You weren't this bad last night," Tommy said as Zack finished applying the ointment and Kim began shaking in Tommy's arms. "You want to let it air out some?"

"Just wrap me back up and get me the strongest medicine that you have. I should be all right after that," Kim said as Zack passed Tommy the bandages and he began wrapping them around her body. Kim then began laughing, for no reason, which caused Tommy and Zack to stare at her. What could possibly be funny about this situation?

"What could you possibly be laughing at?" Tommy asked as he secured the bandages and looked down at her, with a confused look on his face.

"It's really stupid, to be honest, Tommy," Kim said as Tommy and Zack exchanged a glance and then Tommy nodded that she should go on, which she was just barely able to see. "I just never thought this would be how you'd see me topless."

"I'm not enjoying this, at all," Tommy said as Kim smiled up at him and Zack just shook his head.

"You two can have your little, whatever this is, later, when I'm not here," Zack said as Tommy and Kim looked over at him and he shrugged. "We have things to do besides take care of her, working on the teleportation system being right up there on our list. If she had been worse off, we would have had to break about a million ranger rules, namely revealing a Command Center."

"Come on, why can't we have some fun? We need to after yesterday," Tommy said as Zack gave Tommy a stern look and he nodded that he understood. "Let's get breakfast before we do anything else. We're all going to need our energy."

"At least that's productive," Zack said as Kim sat up and held out her hand, which Tommy took and gently pulled her off the couch. "I'll go on downstairs."

"Okay," Tommy said as Kim sat down and he began searching for something they'd both eat for breakfast.

"What are we now Tommy?" Kim asked as he set a glass of orange juice in front of her and put some eggos on a tray and placed it in the oven. He was going for what was easy; he didn't feel like really cooking.

"Whatever you want us to be," Tommy said as Kim motioned for him to come and sit down next to her.

"No, you tell me because I'm not in control of this relationship anymore," Kim said as Tommy sat down next to her and placed his arms around her.

"I'm yours," Tommy said as Kim looked over at him and then pulled his face closer to hers.

"So you'll have me back?" Kim asked as Tommy's hands worked their way up to her neck and hair, just barely touching them.

"Yeah, I'll have you back," Tommy said as he gave her a gentle kiss and then kissed her on the tip of her nose. "All you ever had to do was ask."

"But you needed time," Kim whispered as the buzzer on the oven sounded and Tommy stood to pull out the eggos.

"That was more for me to get my thoughts together than anything else," Tommy said as he placed a couple of eggos in front of her and she grasped for them, then cut them with her knife and fork. "You're pretty good at that. Have you been fooling me all this time?"

"I go through about four pairs of glasses a year, with my run-ins with Mesogogg and them falling off my face when I do gymnastics. I'm kinda used to having sometime without them. I always wind up breaking my back-up pair before I can get another pair made," Kim said as she rubbed her torso against the table and let out an involuntary groan.

"Well the doctor is rushing them through. We can't exactly leave you alone until you can see," Tommy said as Kim gave him a mock glare. "I know, you're not a kid, but I don't want to risk anything else if I can help it."

"I agree with you there," Kim said as Zack popped up to see the two of them eating breakfast. He had thought pop-tarts, but they did have sometime to waste. "I don't know what I'll do if anything happens. My body can't take much more right now."

"Yeah, I can't go through another day like yesterday anytime soon," Tommy said as Kim nodded her head in agreement.

"How do you think your rangers are doing? I mean, they didn't see you after you saved me and you know what that used to do to us," Kim said as Tommy shrugged his shoulders.

"They know that I'm alive, so they shouldn't be too worried about me. They don't need to see me to be able to hear my voice," Tommy said as Kim gave him a skeptical look.

"They're new to this, alive may not be good enough for them. You know we had to see each other at first," Kim said as she pushed her plate away and Tommy took both of their plates to the sink.

"If they had seen the way you looked, they would have second guessed being rangers; we can't really afford that right now," Tommy said as Kim nodded and he came over and grabbed her hand and pulled her out of her chair. "Can you make it down the stairs?"

"As long as you tell me when I'm on the last step, I should be fine," Kim said as Tommy opened the trap door and they started into the Command Center.

"Whoa, Tommy," Jason said as he came in and could see Tommy descending into the Command Center.

"Just follow us down Jason, unless you have my glasses, I can't do this alone," Kim said as Tommy looked at the bags Jason held u and smiled.

"Trini has your glasses, I have the ace bandages," Jason said as he walked down behind them and then Trini came in.

"I'll wrap you up," Tommy said as Kim nodded, then pulled off his t-shirt so Tommy could wrap it around her.

"Here you go," Trini said as she passed Kim her glasses and she slipped them on.

"This is so much better," Kim said as she could finally see all of them again and could finally see some of the damage done to her body. "I need to go by next week and order a back up pair, since I broke them already."

"Do you want to see how bad it is?" Tommy asked, as Kim shook her head no. She could fee just how bad it was without seeing it. "Hopefully this will help stop the bleeding."

"If not, I've been through worse," Kim said as Tommy tightened the bandages around her torso, then wrapped on the ace bandage.

"Okay, Billy left us directions for the teleportation system and the materials we need to get it to work," Trini said as Kim pulled on Tommy's shirt and stood to go help them.

"Kim, sweetie, you need to rest," Tommy said as Kim placed her hands on her hips and glared up at him. "You can't tell me that you're not sore and worn out."

"Yeah, but I can help," Kim said as Trini looked over at Tommy. They had to talk her out of helping, somehow.

"You can't crawl around and that's what we need you to do. Please just sit down and rest," Tommy said as Kim nodded her head and sat down in a chair in front of the computer.

"Can I actually use this as a computer?" Kim asked as Tommy nodded his head yes, then walked over to help the others. He knew that a teleportation system was extremely complex, but with Billy's directions and Trini's skills, they'd be able to figure out a way to do most of it.

----------

"We're going back to Dr. O's," Conner said as Kira and Ethan nodded. They had a lot of questions to ask him and they had to be answered this time.

"What I want to know is why is Billy still here?" Kira said as Ethan gave her a confused look. "He doesn't live here anymore, at least that was what it sounded like."

"Talk about that somewhere else," Billy said as he walked by them and they nodded. They didn't know why it was so important to keep quiet, but they were sure they would learn more as time went along. They were still too new to be scared of being discovered by the outside world and they didn't know the repercussions of something like that happening, the older rangers did.

"Are you all like this?" Kira asked as Billy smiled over and shook his head no.

"Some are worse," Billy said as he walked over to Zack's car and they watched as he climbed in and drove off.

"Who could possibly be worse?" Kira asked as she climbed into the passenger's seat and Conner looked over at Ethan, he could think of one right off the bat.

"Dr. O," Conner said as Kira gave him an odd look. "Come on, he got us out of there so fast it's not even funny. He knows how much is at stake if we are revealed. He may even be more fanatical than we can even imagine."

"I didn't think you know what the word fanatical meant," Ethan said as Conner glared into the rearview mirror at him.

"I heard it in a movie and I actually do pay attention in English class, even if I don't act like it," Conner said as Kira quickly jumped in to stop the brewing argument.

"You can fight later, more important things are going on than Conner's knowledge of the English language," Kira said as Ethan and Conner spared each other one more look before nodding.

"Do you think Dr. O is actually starting a new relationship now?" Ethan asked as Kira shrugged her shoulders. She only cared about the relationship if it affected them.

"I don't think it's a new relationship, did you see the way they acted around each other," Conner pointed out as Ethan and Kira stared at him. This was snot the same Conner McKnight that they had gone to school with for the past two years.

"I didn't know that you had this side to you," Kira said as Conner shrugged his shoulders.

"It doesn't help in soccer, but I guess it helps that I notice these things somewhere in life," Conner said as he pulled into Dr. O's driveway and parked his car. He was sure that Ethan and Kira were shocked, but he wasn't the asshole that he acted like all the time. He couldn't even stand himself if he was like that all the time.

"Hello? Dr. O?" Kira called as she walked in the front door with Ethan and Conner right behind her.

"Downstairs, Kira," Tommy called as they turned and headed for the trap door. "Billy was just telling me about school. How were your days?"

"The best part is that it is over," Conner said as Kira and Ethan nodded their heads in agreement. None of them had had a great day today. They had had a bunch of crap piled on them by a couple of their teachers and all they wanted to do now was get home so that they could do their homework and sleep.

"I honestly agree with them, for once school was not a pleasant experience for me as well," Billy said as Tommy could only smile over at him. "You're still not looking so hot."

"You wouldn't either after having your chest slashed," Kim said, grumpily, as she slowly sat up and looked over at Tommy and the others. The soreness had definitely had a chance to set in and she did not enjoy it at all. She just wanted to get back to sleep, but the noise down here had even kept her awake upstairs.

"Can we see?" Conner asked as Tommy glared at him and Kira smacked him hard on the back of the head.

"Nice try Conner, but not only would seeing my boobs turn you off; you can't really tell where they are because of the swelling," Kim said as she stood up and walked over to him. "Plus, Tommy might have to kick your ass."

"So, the two of you did have something in the past," Conner said as Kira smacked him again. "What did I say that time?"

"It's none of our business if they did or didn't. The only thing we need to know is that they're good terms now," Kira said as Kim and Tommy looked at the two of them.

"Have you taken anything for the pain?" Billy asked as Kim nodded her head yes and then pulled off Tommy's shirt. She was pretty sure the bandages needed to be changed again. "I'll change the bandages, the rest of you need to keep on working."

"He gets to see her?" Conner asked as Jason, Zack, Trini, and Tommy looked over at him and Kira held up her hand.

"He's the closest thing we have to a doctor and he'll take better care of her than the rest of us," Jason said as Tommy's fists shook and he could only shake his head.

"Do I need to smack him again?" Kira asked as Tommy nodded his head yes and Kira smacked him one more time.

"Why'd you come?" Tommy asked as they went back to work on the teleportation system. Nothing had happened today, so he didn't understand why they would stop by.

"We have some questions," Ethan said as they all heard Kim let out a moan and Tommy put down his tools and walked off.

"What about?" Trini asked as she crawled under the machine and began installing various parts.

"Everything, we've only heard the rumors of how you formed. We have never heard the actual story," Conner said as Jason walked over to the computer and pulled up a file.

"Sit back and watch, it should answer your questions," Jason said as he then went back to work.

"I don't understand why you're not healing," Billy said as Kim shrugged her shoulders. If Billy didn't understand it, then she sure as hell was not going to be able to understand it. "I'm afraid to let you air these out because of the risk of infection."

"It'll just take sometime Billy, we're not on Aquitar where everything heals in mere minutes," Kim said as she looked up at the screen and saw the rangers' story being told.

"I left out the letter," Tommy whispered as Kim leaned back against him and smiled. She was definitely thankful for that. These rangers did not need to be exposed to the real reason that she and Tommy were only dating right now. "What do you want for supper?"

"How about you come to my place?" Kim whispered back as Tommy merely nodded his head that he liked that idea.

"Lovebirds, come on, teleportation system to finish here," Zack said as they both blushed then walked over.

"Are you going back to Aquitar when this gets done?" Kim asked as Billy shook his head no. "What made you decide that?"

"It's just time for me to come back. I can't have the life I want there and I think I'll be able to find that here," Billy said as Kim gave him an odd look.

"Kat's still single, isn't she?" Tommy asked as Kim gaped over at Billy as he nodded his head yes.

"She doesn't know I'm back yet," Billy said as Kim continued to blatantly stare at him. "You okay?"

"When did this happen and where was I when it happened?" Kim asked as the rangers finished their video and looked over at their predecessors in awe. They could not believe half the things that they had done, that no one knew about.

"Let's just say we were only friends because it made things easier on us," Billy said as Kim's mouth dropped open and she stared up at Tommy.

"You knew," Kim said as Tommy nodded his head yes.

"First words out of her mouth when she broke up with me," Tommy said as he smiled. "It wasn't really so unexpected, not after what I had seen."

"You know that this deserves more of an explanation," Kim said as Billy just shook his head, then booted Trini out of the crawl space.

"All of that is true," Conner said as Tommy nodded his head yes. In the one place that he could be honest about his ranger history, he was going to be. He had needed the stress relief when he made the video and he had felt so much better to actually do that.

"Please tell me that you only get seriously injured as a freak thing," Kira said as she looked over at Kim.

"For old pros like us, it's a freak thing, but you'll have some ugly injuries at first, but as you get better the injuries will go down…well, usually they do," Tommy said as Kira nodded her head. It was not a blanket statement no, but it was better than him saying it was a guarantee with the job.

"No one can be more superficial than me when I first became a ranger," Kim said as Jason and Trini laughed. They could all remember her complaining that her hair was going to get messed up by the helmet. "Trust me, an injury like this is extremely unusual and I honestly doubt Mesogogg will take his time to do something like this to you. He wants to get back at me and he's figuring out what the best way is."

"I think we might as well call it a day. My brain is too addled to honestly be able to finish this correctly. If I can bunk down somewhere, I'll finish this tomorrow," Billy said as Tommy nodded and the young rangers took this as their cue to leave.

"My room's free, I'm taking her home," Tommy said as the others gave them a suspicious look. "It's not like that."

"Sure, Tommy," Jason said as Kim just shook her head.

"Go get you some clothes," Kim said as they all looked at her. "He is spending the night, but I honestly doubt we'll do anything more than watch a movie."

"All right missy, but the two of you be careful," Jason joked as Kim gave him a hug then walked out to Tommy's car. She knew that nothing would happen and so did he. Neither of them was that willing to jump into their relationship. In all honesty a nice dinner would be most appreciate by both.


	7. Being Able to Rest

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own the Power Rangers, I only own some characters and they will be listed up here whenever I get around to it.

Tommy drove into the heart of Reefside and looked over at Kim. He had not thought she'd buy a place here. He thought that she would honestly want some peace and quiet, not the hustle and bustle of the inner city. When she told him to stop, he realized he was in front of the newly formed gymnastics academy. Now he understood it all too well. She was the one that had built this place and was working her ass off here everyday this last summer, he just didn't know it was her. If he had, he probably would have avoided this part of Reefside, but now it just seemed that he had been on some odd lucky streak to not see her until the day that Trini and Zack landed in his basement.

"My humble abode," Kim said as she pulled out her keys and unlocked the gym. It was uncharacteristically quiet for this time of afternoon, but she knew that her staff could only do so much when she was missing. She couldn't expect them to keep it running at full steam, when she had even given them any warning that she was not going to be there. "I guess they cancelled the afternoon class, not that I blame them. It's usually my class to take care of."

"Please tell me we're not sleeping on the mats and eating power bars from the vending machine," Tommy said as Kim shook her head no and headed towards her office.

"My apartment is above my office. I couldn't afford a payment to a landlord, so I'm my own now," Kim said as she trudged up the stairs into her apartment. "It's not much, but it's home."

"It's nice, Kim," Tommy said as she smiled over at him and he watched her walk over to her closet and get out some of her own clothes. "Why don't you air out your cuts for a little while. I'll order some Chinese. I guess I'm going to have to go downstairs to get it."

"Yeah, but do you really want someone to come upstairs and see me like this?" Kim pointed out as she lay down on the couch and closed her eyes. She had loved being with Tommy, but she had missed her own place. She liked the little bit of independance that she had here.

"Good point," Tommy said as he picked up the phone and walked into the next room. "Twenty minutes and it'll be here."

"That's good," Kim said as she flipped on the television and looked through the channels.

"Kim, you really up to being by yourself?" Tommy asked as Kim smiled over at him and shook her head. It was cute that he was worried, but he had to let her have a life. The both needed to be seperate right now, more than anything else. "I'm just worried about another attack."

"And I'm worried about you, so we're even," Kim said as Tommy laughed. "You don't think that makes us even?"

"You have a lot more going on than I do. Mesogogg doesn't like me because of you, but I can readily defend myself. You can no longer do that Kim and although I would love to let you be by yourself, it's a big risk. He's not going to stop picking on you because you're hurt," Tommy said as Kim slipped on the button up shirt she had pulled out of her closet.

"It's no bigger a risk than me teaching a class, going shopping or going for a run. Sometimes I have to be alone and I'm not scared; he's been after me for years Tommy; I'm kinda used to what can happen to me," Kim said as Tommy placed his arm around her and pulled her close.

"Well, I'm scared for you," Tommy said as she snuggled closer to him and closed her eyes.

"You've always been, Tommy and it's something I love about you, but you have to trust me when I say I'll be fine," Kim said as Tommy nodded then looked away from her. "You don't trust me?"

"That's not the problem, I trust you, but I don't trust Mesogogg and you can't tell me I should. You know he will kill you if he has the chance," Tommy said, as Kim shook her head no. She honestly doubted that Mesogogg would kill her, that was never what he had wanted to do. He wanted to torture her as much as he possibly could and make her feel guilty about not being with him, but that was about it. "Why won't he kill you?"

"He's obsessed with the idea of having me. I don't think he'll kill me, he'll just get very close," Kim said as Tommy closed his eyes and took in a deep breath.

"Yeah, but close can turn into you in a casket and I don't want to see that until we are much older. I care too much to let you die," Tommy said as Kim reached up and cupped his face in her hands.

"I know, but he wants to hurt me, much more than you and you are the best way to do that. I don't want you to get yourself killed because of me," Kim said and she then gave him a tender kiss. "Please don't worry about me. You know I'll call if things start to go wrong."

"And I don't want the day to come when I'll be too late to save you, Kim. I just don't feel comfortable with all of this," Tommy said as they heard a knock downstairs. "Hold that thought, I'll be right back."

"The day won't come, Tommy," Kim said as he walked back up the stairs and then went to get some paper plates.

"Can you guarantee that?" Tommy asked as Kim shook her head no and looked up at him with a sheepish smile. "That's what I thought."

"It's not like we can just move in together, neither of us is ready for something like that, not yet anyway," Kim said as Tommy nodded his head in agreement. He loved waking up next to her this morning, but he knew the two of them had to show some control and if they lived together, that wouldn't happen. They would have regrets and they didn't need anymore of those to add to the pile that their relationship had already accmulated.

"But you can promise me some things," Tommy said setting a plate in front of her.

"And you can promise me some things," Kim said as she gave him a hard look and he nodded that he agreed to it as well. He knew it was his only way to not get into a fight tonight and he wanted for things to work out for them.

"You won't go anywhere by yourself if you can help it and you won't go up any dark alleys for no reason," Tommy said as Kim nodded that she would do that. She just wouldn't tell Tommy if she went wandering into any alleys, she sometimes did it just because she saw something weird. She had to make sure that Mesogogg didn't attack anyone that was not protected from him.

"You won't go hunting the streets of Reefside for him so that you can pay him back for everything he did to me and you won't go out to fight him unless you have to help the rangers," Kim said as he reluctantly nodded his head that he would.

"What do you want to watch?" Tommy asked as Kim shrugged her shoulders and began eating. "Let's see, there's a Law and Order marathon on."

"Hey, that's fine, go back," Kim said as Tommy had already flicked over to the next station and was going to keep going if at all possible. He liked Law and Order but it was not his favorite show in the world. He was honestly hoping to catch some football and just be able to forget everything that had happened today.

"Ball game?" Tommy questioned as Kim looked over at him and he then flipped it back. Tommy knew he had better choose another time to watch a ball game by the look on her face. "I guess you don't like football that much."

"I do, but if the two of us watch football, I won't get any chance to really talk to you," Kim said as Tommy nodded his head and then focused on the television. "Tommy…"

"Sorry…did you say something?" Tommy asked as Kim grabbed a pillow and hit him on the side of the head. "I'm just kidding, what do you want to talk about?"

"I know you are and I haven't had a chance to really ask you about what's gone on in your life over the past few years," Kim said as Tommy looked over at her. He found it hard to believe that she had hopped around the world to save him and didn't know anything about what he had done. But at this point, he thought it best to humor her, he did want to stay the night.

"What do you want to know?" Tommy asked as he piled more food on his plate and Kim gave him a confused look, he had never eaten this much food before now. "I'll work it off in the morning."

"I'm sure my staff would love to see you, especially some of the younger ones," Kim said as Tommy looked over at her and shrugged. He was sure that he had been hit on by worse during college.

"Kim, I've been hit on by professionals, I can handle them. You still didn't say what you want to know," Tommy pointed out as Kim looked over at him, then spotted the edge of a tattoo peaking out from under his shirt sleeve. She didn't know how she could have missed that earlier.

"A tattoo?" Kim asked as she pulled up the sleeve to get a good look at it. It was a cross with a flacon flying in the background and there seemed to be enough room for a name, but obviously, he had not wanted one. It had never struck her that he would get a tattoo, it just didn't seem like something Tommy would do.

"Jason never told you about his tattoo?" Tommy asked, as Kim shook her head no. It suited Tommy just fine and it also explained why he had so many long sleeved shirts, but it did shock her that she had never noticed Jason's. She had been in contact with him over the last eight or so years. "As soon as we graduated high school, we took a little vacation, the town we were staying in had a tattoo parlor, we both were going through some hard times, so we each got one. I have another one on my ankle, but that's it for me."

"Too much pain?" Kim asked, as Tommy shook his head no. He really had not had too much pain from either of the tattoos that he had gotten. "Then why no more?"

"I haven't had a reason and I really don't want to get anymore unless there is a good reason for it," Tommy said as Kim nodded and then laid herself down on the remaining part of the couch.

"Why'd you choose teaching? I never really thought this is where you'd wind up, I honestly pictured a dojo overflowing with students," Kim said as Tommy nodded. At one time, it had been his dream, but college had changed him in many ways.

"That still may happen, but I'm happy with teaching science. It lets me have a chance to settle down, not worry about as many things," Tommy said as Kim nodded. "You're being quiet."

"I like listening to you, Tommy, I never feel like I have to come up with something to say, you're fine with me just sitting here," Kim said as Tommy smiled down at her, then picked up their plates and took them to the kitchen.

"You have anymore earth shattering questions?" Tommy asked as he picked Kim up and then settled her back down on his lap.

"No, do you have any for me?" Kim asked, as Tommy shook his head no. As much as he wanted to ask her some serious questions, he felt that it was trivial to do so now. She had been his sole reason for existence for years and now he could have her again. He did not want to truly upset her so soon and if it was important enough she would tell him. He wouldn't have to ask about it.

"This is just sad," Tommy said as Kim gave him a bewildered look. "We're watching Law and Order and it's not even eight o'clock."

"Law and Order puts me to sleep most nights," Kim said as Tommy gently unbuttoned her shirt and handed her the ointment. "Does it look any better?"

"A little, but Billy said it would take a couple of weeks to really tell any difference," Tommy said as he let out a long sigh. He wanted to hunt Mesogogg down and make him pay, but Kim's safety was more important to him than getting his revenge. "You want me to put it on?"

"Yeah, I can't exactly do that to myself," Kim said as Tommy nodded and then began applying the ointment. "Tommy…"

"Yeah?" Tommy said as he looked up at her smiling face.

"Thanks again, for everything," Kim said as he nodded and then motioned for her to sit up.

"You'd do the same thing for me, Kim," Tommy said as Kim wiped her eyes and Tommy quickly finished the bandages. "Why you crying?"

"I was just thinking, it's really stupid Tommy," Kim said as she sniffed then wiped her nose.

"I won't laugh if it is," Tommy said as Kim just shook her head and then gave Tommy a strong hug.

"I love you, Tommy," Kim said as Tommy gave her a gentle squeeze and a kiss on the lips.

'I love you too," Tommy whispered as he settled her back on his lap and she snuggled closer to him and closed her eyes. Within minutes she was asleep in his arms and he was the happier than he had been in years. "Sleep good Beautiful."


	8. Falling Over, Again

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers, trust me, things would have turned out differently if I did. I do, however, own the characters of Abby Parish, Jennifer Battle, and Benjamin Russell.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

"Damn that clock," Kim said as she went to swat at her clock and as she rolled over, she realized she was about to fall off the couch and couldn't stop herself in time. "Ah!"

"What time is it?" Tommy murmured as he felt around for Kim and realized that she was no longer there, but he didn't know where she was. "Kim?"

"I'm on the floor, but don't worry, I'm perfectly fine, Tommy," Kim said as she fumbled around for her glasses. She didn't remember taking them off, but she also didn't remember falling asleep next to Tommy on the couch. "It's 5:30, if you want to get in a workout you better get up. You can use whatever you want to downstairs, I have to take a shower."

"When do your people come in?" Tommy asked as Kim padded towards her bedroom to shut off the still beeping clock.

"About six, but I'll be down by then," Kim sad as Tommy stood up and headed for the stairs. The Kim he knew had never been able to get ready in only thirty minutes, but lots of things had changed since they were in high school.

-----------

"New instructor, I call dibs," Abby Parish said as she entered the gym to see Tommy working out on the far end. To anyone watching, it was obvious that he was a trained athlete, maybe not a gymnast, but a trained athlete nonetheless. The both of them were sure that they could teach him gymnastics, even if it was a little late for him to start learning.

"No fair, I saw him first," Jennifer Battle said as Kim walked into the gym, wearing her loosest coaching clothes. She was sure that her trainers would just think that she was under the weather, they wouldn't suspect that she had slashes all across her chest that prevented her from even wearing a bra. "Kim, who's the new guy?"

"He's not a coach, he's a friend," Kim said as Tommy looked over at her and smiled before continuing with his workout.

"A single friend?" Abby dug, as Kim shook her head no. "Damn, thought I might finally get one. Why weren't you here yesterday?"

"I felt a little under the weather," Kim said as Tommy walked into her office, then disappeared up the stairs.

"He stayed the night?" Jennifer asked as Kim nodded her head yes. "I hope his girlfriend is all right with it. We wouldn't want a fight on our hands."

"I'm perfectly fine with him staying the night," Kim said as the others stared over at her. She hadn't even gone out in the entire time that she had been here and now she suddenly had a boyfriend. That just didn't add up in their minds. "Come on, let's get ready for the toddler class that comes in at 7:30."

"That is an hour and a half from now; it's time that you spill it," Abby said as Kim looked between the two of them. The rest of her staff would know right after they entered the building what was going on, but they were some of her best teachers, so she just had to deal with their chattiness.

"There's not much to tell about him; he's a teacher at the high school and an old friend of mine," Kim said as she walked over to pull out some mats. "I really want to keep this hush, hush. We're just starting back over."

"Starting back over? Now that doesn't sound like you were only friends way back when," Jennifer said as Kim gave her a harsh look then let out a sigh. Why had she had to mention that they were starting over? Why couldn't she have just said that they were getting to know each other again? That could possibly mean friendship, not an old relationship being rekindled.

"I dumped him when I was in Miami, but he's always been my guardian angel, even when I didn't want him to be," Kim said as she remembered Divatox and shuddered. That had not been a pleasant time for her and she was sure that Tommy felt the same about it.

"So what's this guardian angel like in bed?" Abby asked as Kim dropped the mat out of pure shock. She would have never asked a question like that of them and they worked for her, not the other way around. "You've never had sex?"

"No, still a virgin," Kim said as they gaped at her. Kim had had more than her fair share of hot men hit on her and yet she had still not had sex with any of them. They did not know how she had that kind of self control, especially with some of those men. "The whole waiting on the right one thing."

"And he's not the right one?" Jennifer asked as Kim looked towards her office and smiled. That was something that she had questioned for a long time, but she knew the answer to it and she had known it for a long time.

"He is, but he's too much of a gentleman to ask," Kim said as Tommy's bare arm stuck out and motioned for her to come here. She was glad for an excuse to get out of this conversation, she just hoped that they would drop it when she came back. "What do you need?"

"Come with me," Tommy said as he grabbed her hand and pulled her up the stairs. "Does anything look different to you?"

"Oh my goodness," Kim said as she noticed her files had been rummaged through. "What else does he want? I don't have anymore to give to him."

"That's my point; he's digging now. I have to finish getting ready, but keep your eyes open. I want you to be able to have a good day today," Tommy said as Kim nodded and turned to walk back downstairs. "Yell if you need me."

"I will," Kim said as she jogged down the steps.

"What did he want?" Jennifer asked as Kim walked back out.

"To know where the blow dryer was," Kim said as she bent over to pull one of the mats and clutched her stomach. It had felt sore when she woke up, but this was ridiculous. She didn't know how she was going to get through the day without someone noticing that she was honestly hurt.

"You okay?" Abby asked as Kim straightened up and nodded her head yes. "Let's get back to your man."

"What else about him?" Kim asked with a sigh as Abby and Jennifer looked at each other.

"Like is he still a virgin?" Jennifer asked as Kim shrugged her shoulders. She honestly thought that Tommy was, but she hadn't been around enough to know if he was or wasn't. She also didn't have the nerve to ask him that, it was something that would come up in good time. "You should definitely know that at the very least."

"Please, just stop the interrogation; we're just starting to get to really know each other again," Kim said, rather desperately as one of the male members of her staff walked in.

"Hey Kim, you feeling any better?" Benjamin Russell asked as he walked over and gave Kim a hug. He was the co-owner of the gym, but he couldn't stand to live here. He liked to separate his work and real life.

"She should be with the man she had stay with her last night," Abby said as Kim glared over at her and Ben gave Kim a concerned look.

"He's a good friend Ben, it's not like what you think," Kim said as Jennifer and Abby gave her a stern look. "Okay, he's my boyfriend, but you know I'm not like that."

"I know, just don't let him hurt you," Ben said as Tommy walked into the gym and Kim walked over to him.

"I need to be going," Tommy said as Kim gave him a hug and he gently ran his fingers up and down her back. "Do you mind if I come by this afternoon?"

"Doesn't Billy need some help?" Kim said as Tommy nodded his head yes. He just didn't want to leave her alone; he had a bad feeling about it. He felt like he needed to come by and just make sure she was okay. "I'll be fine, go help him."

"Okay," Tommy said as he gave her another hug. "Call if you need me, I'll tell the office to let you through."

"I will, have a good day," Kim said as Tommy smiled down at her and then walked out of the gym.

"Tommy?" Ben asked with a laugh as Kim nodded her head yes. "You're one lucky girl."

"Yeah, I am," Kim said with a sigh and then she turned to truly go to work.

-----------

"Dr. O," Kira said as she walked up to him after the last bell.

"Yeah, Kira," Tommy said as Kira gave him a concerned look. He had seemed a little bit spaced out today.

"I need some help with the science of hand combat. Can you possibly find some time to help me with that?" Kira asked as Tommy nodded his head yes.

"Get the others and meet me at the center," Tommy said as Kira nodded, then ran off to get her fellow rangers. "I better get home before my heart changes my mind."

"He said he'd help," Kira said as Conner nodded and motioned for her to climb in the car, where Ethan was already situated.

"We've got a lot to learn," Conner said, worriedly, as Kira and Ethan nodded their heads in agreement. They knew that they were no where near as close to where Tommy, and probably Kim, were. They had never done any type of combat and now they were being thrown into being rangers. "I don't know if we're ready for all of this."

"From what I've heard about Dr. O, he's a hell of a fighter. You saw what he did to Mesogogg in that alley, imagine what would happen if he had powers. He'd be unstoppable," Ethan said as Kira and Conner looked back at him.

"I get the feeling Kim would go off the deep end, for some reason she doesn't want him out there," Kira said as Ethan pondered this for a second. He had gotten the same vibe and Kira's assumption answered one thing for him and brought up an odd theory.

"What if Mesogogg doesn't really want to get at Dr. O? What if it's been Kim the whole time?" Ethan asked as they looked at each other. It was an interesting theory, but they doubted Dr. O would explain this to them. All they needed to know was that they had a crazy monster coming after them. "All we can do is ask, he's answered everything else so far."

"But this might be too personal," Kira said as Ethan nodded that that thought had crossed his mind as well.

"I still think it's worth the risk, let's face it we need to know everything we can," Ethan said as Conner and Kira nodded their heads in agreement.

-----------

"Last class of the day, right?" Ben asked as Kim waved good-bye to some of her students.

"Yeah, I need the rest of today alone," Kim said as Ben gave her a concerned look.

"Is Romeo coming by?" Ben asked as Kim shook her head no. She had told him to go help Billy and she was sure that he would, although she really wanted to see him right now. "Why not? I thought you'd want to see him, especially after a day like today."

"I do, but he's got things he has to do," Kim said as Ben put his arms arm around her as they walked over to clean up the mats. "Actually things I'm making him do. I'm worried about him."

"You always worry about Tommy, even when things weren't good between the two of you, I'd find you going off to help him with something," Ben said as Kim bent to pick up a mat and clutched her stomach. She had been able to hide it all day, but it hurt so much now and she couldn't help but let the agony show when she was with her most trustest co-worker. "You weren't sick yesterday, were you?"

"I wish I had been sick," Kim said as she gingerly rubbed her stomach.

"Mesogogg again?" Ben asked as Kim merely nodded her head yes. "What did he do to you this time?"

"I have slashes across my chest that are sore as hell, I'm just lucky to be walking around," Kim said as Ben pulled off her t-shirt to look at the bandages. "Give me that. You know people could walk by and I don't need anymore rumors to start up about me."

"So he knows?" Ben asked as he began dragging the mats over to their corner of the gym.

"Yeah, Tommy knows about all of it, I had to tell him after he saved me," Kim said as Ben nodded.

"Are you sure I can leave you alone tonight?" Ben asked as he sat down on a balance bean and Kim joined him. "What if he comes back?"

"I'll be fine, Tommy's on call in case anything happens and don't worry, he can kick Mesogogg back to the age of the dinosaurs if he's mad enough," Kim said with a smile as Ben nodded then stood up.

"Well, Ms. Hart, have a good night and I'll see you bright and early," Ben said as Kim gave him a hug then he walked away.

"Good night to you Mr. Russell," Kim said as she walked her office and sat down to pay some bills, but before she knew it she had snoozed off.

_"Why am I here? What do you want with me?" Tommy asked as Mesogogg snarled in front of him. _

_"The dino gems, Mr. Oliver," Mesogogg said as his tongue flickered in and out. _

_"Too bad, they're already bonded with someone. You know the gem picks you, you don't pick the gem," Tommy said as Mesogogg pointed the laser at his chest. _

_"Mr. Oliver, you have just received a ticket to the graveyard," Mesogogg said as he fired off the laser and Tommy jumped from the table before lying motionless again. "Good-bye Dr. Oliver…now onto your precious Kimberly."_

"Tommy!" Kim screamed as she jerked awake in her chair and looked around, as she wiped the cold sweat off her face. Dusk was beginning to fall and the streets were still rather busy. Kim reached around until she found her phone and then punched in Tommy's number. "Please answer me, please don't let me get the machine."

"Hi, you've reached the Oliver residence, leave a message after the beep and I'll try to remember to get back with you," Tommy's voice said as Kim slammed down her phone and picked up her keys. She just had to see if Tommy was all right.

-----------

"Dr. O, you're a lot better than you let on," Conner said as he rubbed a particularly tender spot on his shoulder.

"Conner, the six black belts should have told you something," Kira said as she was rubbing her side.

"Dr. O, I have a question," Ethan said as Tommy nodded that he could go on. "Is Mesogogg really after you or after Kim?"

"He wants to get to Kim and that might mean me or any of the other old rangers getting attacked," Tommy said as they emerged from the edge of the woods.

"Why go after her at all then?" Kira asked as Tommy looked over at her and shrugged his shoulders.

"It's an old grudge from what I can tell and taking Kim out will only do so much. He really wants to hurt her by hurting us," Tommy said as Billy walked out of the cave to meet them. "How's it looking?"

"As if I am going to have to go to Angel Grove. There are some components I can only get at the Command Center," Billy said as Tommy tossed him his keys and Billy headed straight for Tommy's jeep. "I'll get back as soon as I can."

"If you don't happen to run into Kat," Tommy said as Billy just shook his head.

"I'm going to do that this weekend; you're going up there, right?" Billy asked as Tommy shrugged his shoulders, that really all depended on how things were going around here. He couldn't leave the rangers alone if all hell was breaking loose in Reefside. He still had to protect them until they truly had their feet under them. "Okay, I see how this is going, we'll talk when I get back."

"You know, for a genius, he doesn't talk like one," Ethan said as Tommy laughed as they walked into the Command Center.

"Wait until he talks about technical things, then you'll see his true vocabulary. Trini's not here to interpret for him, so he's going to talk more like us," Tommy said as he walked towards the stairs.

"Dr. O, are there more gems?" Kira asked as Tommy turned to her and nodded his head yes.

"I didn't get them when the damn island exploded," Tommy said as he heard someone beating on the door upstairs. "I'll be right back."

"Tommy! Tommy! Tommy, please open up!" Kim yelled as she pounded on the door. His vehicle was not there and she was truly beginning to believe that the dream she had had was coming true. "Tommy!"

"Hey, what's wrong?" Tommy asked as Kim threw her arms around him and sobbed on his chest. "Kim, what happened? What's wrong?"

"You died," Kim murmured as Tommy picked her up and carried her into the hall, while closing the door with his foot. He didn't like the way that this sounded.

"I'm all right, I'm right here, everything is fine," Tommy said as Kim continued to sob and Conner peeked his head up to see what was going on. "I'm all right, it was only a dream."

"He killed you," Kim cried as Tommy rocked her back and forth.

"It's not going to happen," Tommy said as Kim's sobs became less racking and then started to die away. "It's all right, I'm fine, Kim."

"It scared me Tommy," Kim said as Tommy smiled down at her and slowly let her go.

"I know, come on downstairs and we'll look over some things," Tommy said as Kim nodded and followed him down the stairs.

"Girls are way too emotional," Conner said as Kira glared at him. "She's crying over nothing."

"Sorry but from what I heard, she was crying because she had a dream of Dr. O dying," Kira said as Tommy and Kim looked at each other, knowing it was best to not let this go too far.

"That would make you cry?" Conner asked as Kira nodded her head that it would. "I'm just trying to understand what you're thinking."

"Conner, a little bit of advice, don't try, it usually makes things worse," Tommy said as Kim just shook her head. The bickering between these two reminded her of another ranger pair, but she didn't think they'd want to hear that. "And you're acting exactly like Rocky and Aisha."

"I'm confused, I know that they're rangers, but what does that have to do with us?" Kira asked as Tommy and Kim both smiled. They were going to have to figure it out on their own.

"You're not going to tell us?" Conner asked as Kim shook her head no. "Let's go see what Hayley knows about this."

"Does Hayley even know them?" Kim asked as Tommy nodded his head yes. "She won't tell?"

"Who knows, but they're off our backs about it," Tommy said as he took a long look at Kim's face. "Kim, I'm going to be fine."

"I really want to believe that, but it seemed so real," Kim said as Tommy wrapped his arms around her.

"You want to stay the night?" Tommy asked as Kim nodded her head yes and he began playing with the ends of her hair. "I'll fix supper."

"I meant what I said about not being ready to move in together," Kim said as Tommy let her go and nodded his head as he smirked. He knew that she did, but they hadn't spent more than a night in a different house since they had re-met a few days ago. "I really did."

"I know," Tommy said with a smile as he placed an arm around her. "I'm not ready for that either, I can't really control myself around you."

"Same here," Kim said as Tommy walked over to the fridge and Kim sat down at the table. She then took off her glasses and rubbed her tired eyes. "Don't fix anything too hard Tommy, I don't care what we eat."

"Hamburgers it is," Tommy said as he pulled out a box and Kim smiled. "I guess Billy won't get back in time to eat."

"That's where your jeep is?" Kim asked as Tommy nodded his head yes. "I'm sorry I freaked out, but I couldn't get you on the phone, then I drive up and your car isn't here. It really made me worry that something had happened to you."

"It's okay, I would have done the same thing," Tommy said as he sat down next to her. "Why don't you go find another old sheet and you can put on one of my t-shirts to let that air out."

"I will in a little while, right now I just want to sit here with you," Kim said as she grabbed Tommy's hand. "Tommy, I need to ask you something and don't take it the wrong way, but someone brought it up and I want to know the answer."

"Slow down, whatever you want to ask can't be that bad," Tommy said as Kim gave him a sheepish look. She couldn't believe she was actually going to ask this.

"It's kinda personal," Kim said as Tommy nodded she could go on. "Are you still a virgin?"

"Where did that come from?" Tommy asked, shocked, as Kim's face turned deep red and she looked at the floor.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have asked. One of the girls asked if we had and it made me wonder…" Kim babbled as Tommy gently took both of her hands, which caused her to look up at him. "You don't have to answer, I really don't need to know, it's not that important."

"Shh…"Tommy said as he gently placed a finger on her lips. She then dared to look up at him and saw an amused look in his eyes. "I am, but not many people know it. They all think I had sex with Kat or you or just a one night stand in college, but I couldn't do that. God knows I wanted to sometimes, but it wasn't right."

"You just wouldn't ask," Kim said, softly, as Tommy looked over at her in awe. "I knew how you felt, Tommy, I just wouldn't say anything either. I really can't believe I am saying something now."

"So you still are too?" Tommy asked as he walked over to flip the burgers and Kim stood up to follow him.

"Yeah, never could break the fairy tale," Kim said as she slipped her arms around him. "None of my boyfriends understood it, except you."

"So, you're still going to wait until your wedding night?" Tommy asked, as they had had this conversation in high school, he just couldn't believe they were having it again.

"I don't know anymore," Kim whispered as he looked down at her. He did not want to hear this from her right now, his resolve had already been greatly weakened. He didn't need an excuse to just let it completely fall. "I thought I'd be married by now, so I may wait, I just don't know."

"Don't tempt me, Kim," Tommy said as she stood on her tiptoes and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"I'll go change," Kim said as Tommy nodded as she walked away.

"I'm in deep trouble," Tommy said to himself as he looked down and shook his head. "I won't ruin it for her. She'll get her fairy tale, even if it kills me."

"What are you talking about?" Billy asked as his head popped up from the Command Center.

"Nothing, how'd you get back so fast?" Tommy asked as Billy shrugged his shoulders. Tommy knew better than to ask what Billy had done to his car. "You want one?"

"Yeah. Who else is here?" Billy asked as he sat down at the kitchen table and gave Tommy a knowing look.

"Kim," Tommy said as he let out a long sigh. "I never thought I'd fall in love so fast."

"You never stopped loving her, we all know that. What's holding you back now?" Billy asked as Tommy raked his hands through his hair.

"I want to give myself time to realize that I love her and I can have her. At this pace we'll be married in under a year," Tommy said as Billy nodded. He was sure Tommy would rather have this conversation with Jason, but Billy was there and willing to listen.

"You act like you don't want that," Billy sad as Tommy heard Kim coming down the stairs. "It wouldn't be a bad thing."

"I just don't know," Tommy said looking back at Billy and seeing Kim at the bottom of the stairs in one of his old t-shirts.

"Hey Billy," Kim said as she put her arms around him in a tight embrace.

"Hey Kim, you doing better?" Billy asked as Kim nodded her head yes. "I guess you're staying."

"I had a bad dream, I need to stay," Kim said as Billy gave her a worried look.

"What about?" Billy asked as Kim looked over at Tommy as he continued to cook supper.

"He died," Kim said as Billy nodded and she sniffled.

"That explains a lot," Billy said as Tommy looked back in time to see his pointed gaze. "I'll take that downstairs, I still have some work to do. Have a good night."

"Okay, Billy," Kim said as he fixed his plate and then headed down the stairs. "What's with him?"

"I don't know," Tommy said as Kim gave him a tentative smile.

"Tommy, I didn't want to make things uncomfortable between us," Kim said as she looked over at him and saw him tense. "Tommy, please don't pull away from me."

"Kim, right now I don't trust myself to be alone with you. No, I didn't need as much time as I thought, but you have to heal, I'm not doing anything to jeopardize that," Tommy said as Kim placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I know, Tommy, I know," Kim said as she gave him a firm kiss. "I didn't mean to Tommy, I just let my feelings take me too far."

"Kim, I want this more than you know, but you deserve what you've always pictured happening," Tommy said as he wrapped his arms around her and felt her trembling.

"And if I say it's you?" Kim asked as Tommy looked at her and shook his head. That was just one more temptation that he did not need to hear. "Tommy, you've been my first for so many things, it's only right that…"

"Not now, maybe sometime in the future. Kim I want it to be your fairytale, so we'll wait," Tommy said as he gave her a kiss. "Now, can I trust you not to make things harder on me?"

"Yeah, I'll try," Kim said as she picked up her plate and went to sit down at the table as Tommy sat down beside her. The two of them knew that they were beginning to love each other again, they just didn't know what the next few hours would bring them.


	9. Lying in Wait

The room was eerily quiet as they sat staring at Thomas Oliver. He was lying motionless on a hospital bed and had been since last Thursday night. What happened to him that night? No one was really sure, all they knew was that the next morning Tommy and Kim were found unconscious in his home. Kim had had to be moved to Angel Grove, simply because of the range of her injuries. Tommy, however, had been kept here, away from Kimberly, which worried them more than anything else. If one was to wake up without the other, they were not sure what it would do to them. They needed each other far too much right now.

"He's not getting any better," Trini murmured as Zack nodded his head. They had been hoping for something for days, but nothing had happened. Nothing that would make them think that he was about to wake up at least. "What has Billy said about Kim?"

"She's improving, but not enough to get her moved back here anytime soon," Zack said as he let out a long sigh. He hated to be the one to deal out this sort of news. "We have to find out what happened. That may be the only way to get them to wake up."

"I don't know if we can, Hayley can't find anything and Billy didn't hear anything either and he was downstairs," Trini said as she covered her eyes. They had taken time off work and had been surviving on only two hours of sleep a day, but it was starting to get to all of them. Either Kim or Tommy had to wake up soon, just so that they could survive. "We just have to hope something will change soon."

"Kim," Tommy murmured as Trini and Zack exchanged a glance, maybe they were beginning to imagine that things were getting better. "Kimberly…"

"Tommy," Trini said, tentatively as his eyes popped open and he quickly sat up. "Tommy, it's okay, everything is fine, and she's okay."

"I need to see her," Tommy said as Trini and Zack exchanged a glance. They knew that that was nearly impossible to have happen without them pulling off some miracles. "Trini, I have to; please take me to her."

"She's not here, Tommy," Trini said as Tommy gave her a thorough stare, once he had decided that she was not lying, he looked her square in the eyes. "She had to be moved to Angel Grove, they couldn't take care of her here."

"Then get my doctor in here so they'll discharge me," Tommy said, rather urgently, as the Dino Rangers walked in. "Trini, please."

"Tommy, you just woke up, I doubt they'll let you out," Trini said as Tommy leaned back and let out a frustrated sigh.

"You want us to get the doctor?" Kira asked as Trini and Zack shook their heads no. They'd get him when they thought it was truly necessary.

"What happened to the two of you?" Trini asked as Tommy looked over at her and resigned himself that he was stuck and could not see Kim, so he might as well tell them everything they wanted to know.

"After we finished supper, things just went to hell," Tommy said as he thought back to the last day he could remember.

_Flashback_

"I'll take the couch, Tommy," Kim said as they heard something crash upstairs and couldn't help but look at each other to make sure that they were not hallucinating, that they had indeed heard something. They had had a horrible couple of days, but they were sure that this was not their imagination. "What the hell was that?"

"Go into the Command Center and send Billy up," Tommy said as he started towards the stairs and Kim caught his hand. She was not going to just let him go alone, he did not have any powers and he needed to remember that. "Kim, please do this for me. I don't want you to get hurt."

"I'll be fine, you're not going by yourself," Kim said as Tommy let out a sigh and then pulled her along. He didn't want to fight anymore tonight.

"Thought you'd come looking," Mesogogg said as Tommy pulled Kim behind him and glared over at Mesogogg. This was why he had wanted for Kim to go downstairs and get Billy. He had the sinking feeling that it was goign to be Mesogogg again. "It's time you get what you deserve."

"Leave him alone," Kim said as she struggled to get in front of Tommy, but Tommy held her still. He knew just how much she wanted to protect him, but he knew just how hurt she was and what anything else might do to her. "He's not the one you're trying to get back at."

"You're right Ms. Hart, I wish to get back at you, but killing him is a good way to begin it," Mesogogg said as Kim finally got out of Tommy's grasp and backhanded Mesogogg with all her might.

"You won't kill him, I've told you that before," Kim said in a deathly serious tone of voice. There were some things that Mesogogg could say that would not bother her, but he knew that he was crossing the line when he said that. "You have to go through me to get to him."

"That's easier than it used to be," Mesogogg said as he swung at Kim and she managed to avoid the blow. "You still remember how to duck and run back to him when you need him the most. You use him to your advantage, we both know that."

"Don't you dare," Kim said as she grabbed a candlestick and swung at Mesogogg, but he merely grabbed it and tossed her away. "Ah!"

"You're still hurt, this should be fun," Mesogogg said as he started towards Kim and Tommy stepped in front of him. He wanted to give her some time to regroup; he knew that he could only hold Mesogogg off for so long. "Now, Tommy why protect her? She's never really wanted you."

"Go to hell," Tommy said as he swung through and landed Mesogogg on the floor. He then ran over to Kim to try to get her out of the way before Mesogogg could recover. "Come on, get up, we have to get you out of the way."

"Behind you," Kim said as Mesogogg slapped Tommy away from Kim and he let out a moan of his own. "Billy!"

"He can't hear you," Mesogogg said as Kim crawled over to Tommy and he slowly sat up. "Time you go overboard."

"Overboard?" Kim asked as Tommy's eyes widened.

"The railing," Tommy said as Mesogogg grabbed Kim and flung her over, where she crashed through on a table and landed on the floor with a thud.

"Your turn," Mesogogg said as Tommy struggled against him, and then was flung down as well.

"Ah!" Tommy moaned as he rolled over and looked around for Kim. He then crawled over to her and collapsed across her body to shield her from any further punishment.

"Tommy," Kim murmured as he scooted to shield more of her.

"It's all right, you'll be fine," Tommy said as he passed out against her and Mesogogg gave them an evil smile.

_End of Flashback_

"Oh crap," Conner said as he found himself wrapping his arms around Kira.

"I need to get to her, Trini. Please go get the doctor for me," Tommy said as Trini nodded then walked out of the room.

"Jason and Billy don't need to leave her," Zack said as he grabbed his cell phone and punched in Jason's number.

"You know, we've been fighting tryannadrones for the past week and just when I think I'm starting to get the ranger thing, it gets shot to hell," Kira said as she wiped her eyes and Conner rubbed her back in a reassuring sort of way.

"That happens to the best of us," Tommy said as he looked at the two of them. "You found out about Rocky and Aisha yet?"

"No one will tell us about them," Conner said as the doctor walked into the room in complete shock that Tommy was awake and functioning normally after a week in a comatose state.

"Mr. Oliver, it is good to see that you are back with us," Dr. Haisten said as Tommy looked at him. He didn't have time to sit around and chit chat, he needed to get to Angel Grove as quickly as possible. "I understand that you wish to be discharged immediately."

"Look, I'll sign that I left against the advice of a doctor, but I have to get to Angel Grove as quickly as possible," Tommy said as Dr. Haisten nodded.

"I'm afraid I can't just let you go, some tests need to be done to see what brought you out of your coma," Dr. Haisten said as Tommy stood up and held the back of the hospital gown closed.

"Trini, toss me my clothes," Tommy said as Trini tossed them to him and he pulled on a pair of boxers and jeans before taking off the gown. "You can't keep me here as my injuries are not life threatening and I am not a danger to myself or others. Give me the form or I'll leave without it, I really don't care right now."

"From everything that I heard about you, you're usually a calm, complacent person," Dr. Haisten said as Tommy put on his watch and ran his fingers through his hair. He was really trying his patience now and he had better know that Tommy was deathly serious, he was going to leave unless a nuclear bomb dropped on him within the next thirty seconds.

"Unless you can get Kim here, I have to go to her," Tommy said as Trini handed him her keys and he looked over at the doctor. "I'll see you when I get back."

"Sign it," Dr. Haisten said as Tommy quickly did and walked out of the room. "I've never had a patient quite like him before."

"Yeah, he's unique all right," Trini said as Conner steered Kira out of the room and Ethan followed. They needed to get some rest and now that they knew Dr. O was all right, they might actually be able to do that.

----------

"Anything changed Ben?" Jason asked as he walked back in from supper. He had gotten a desperate call from Zack and had headed back as soon as he could manage it. He didn't really know what was going on, but he knew that it was important for Zack to be acting like that.

"More of the same, she hasn't moved, murmured, or responded to anything. I know she was hurt, but I didn't think it was this bad," Ben said as Jason sat down across from him.

"Tommy's awake and probably on his way up here by now," Jason said as Ben nodded.

"You hear that, Romeo is coming," Ben said as he gave Kim's hand a squeeze. When Kim had left Florida, he lost one of his best friends, so he called her and they decided to open a gym, it had been a success because of the two of them. He didn't know what he'd do if Kim didn't, for some reason, recover. She was the heart and sole of that place and he could do nothing without her.

"You've met him?" Jason asked as Ben nodded his head yes. "Did he say anything to you?"

"Not really, I think he wanted to get out of the gym as quickly as he could," Ben said as Jason nodded.

"I just wish I knew what happened, let's face it she should be awake by now. Her injuries weren't that bad," Jason said as Ben nodded.

"Maybe Tommy can help or at least tell us what happened with the two of them," Ben said as Jason nodded and Billy came in and sat down.

"She's come up in everything, enough to wake up and her scars don't look as bad, but she's still not waking up. They can't explain any of it to me," Billy said as he shook his head. "I still think we can do more if we were to get her out of here and take care of this ourselves."

"Well, Tommy's awake, so that's good news. He can help us decide if we really need to do that," Jason said as Billy let out a sigh of relief. They had all been hoping that one would wake up and then be able to get to the other. Now maybe that really would happen and they would be able to go back to a normal life.

"Do you think they told him about what Hayley found?" Billy asked as Jason shook his head no.

"They don't want to worry him about that, not if they can help it," Jason said as Billy nodded. The discovery of two new dino gems certainly did not comfort any of them because the longer they stayed unbonded, the more likely it was that Mesogogg would steal it.

"Hey guys," Kat said as she walked over to Billy and looked between him and Jason. "Can I steal him away for supper?"

"Yeah, go ahead," Jason said as Billy stood and looked over at Kat. "I'll call if Tommy needs some medical reassurances."

"Okay," Billy said as he turned to walk out with Kat.

"Just the two of us again," Ben mumbled as Jason laughed. They had been spending the most hours with Kim and had exhausted most conversation topics long ago. "You have a girlfriend?"

"I don't know what she is right now, we haven't exactly talked about it," Jason said as Ben nodded. He had been there before and he hated it. "You?"

"She dumped me when I told her that I was setting up a gym with Kim. She thought Kim and I had been having an affair, better off without her if she thinks that," Ben said as Jason nodded. "So, do I know the person that you're not so sure about?"

"Yeah, Trini, our relationship has been up in the air for years. We've just never done anything about it," Jason said as Tommy burst through the door and they both looked up at him as a nurse ran in after him.

"Sir you can not be in here," Sarah Felix said as Tommy glared over at her. "Do you know this man?"

"Yeah, we do, he's fine," Jason said as Tommy looked back at her and she left the room. "Did you have to outrun the cops to get here?"

"Trini's car works wonders, I need to thank Billy when I see him," Tommy said as Jason gave him a wide eyed look. "Who are you?"

"Ben, I'm the co-owner of the gym," Ben said as Tommy reached over and shook his hand. "Nice to finally meet you, we just kinda said hey before."

"Yeah, it's nice to meet you too, just hoped it would be under different circumstances," Tommy said as he looked over at Kim and let out a sigh. "I didn't want this to happen to her."

"So, did Mesogogg have anything to do with it?" Ben asked as Jason and Tommy stared at him. How did he know about Mesogogg? "I knew Taylor before he turned into what he is and I've seen some attacks. I know about almost everything that has happened."

"It's kind of splotchy, but he attacked and tossed the two of us down to the first floor. Kim managed to hit a table, I just hit the floor. I don't know why she was so adversely affected unless something that she hurt before was reinjured, I just don't know," Tommy said as he placed his head in his hands.

"How'd you wind up lying on top of her?" Jason asked as Tommy looked down at him.

"I crawled over to protect her. I knew he'd have to kill me first, I couldn't do much more," Tommy said as Jason motioned for Ben to follow him out of the room. "Stay, I don't need to be left alone with her."

"Tommy, that's exactly what you need," Jason said as he and Ben walked out of the room. "She may be able to hear you."

"So talk to her," Ben said as he closed the door and Tommy moved his chair closer to Kim's bed.

"Hey Beautiful," Tommy said as he reached over and held her hand in his. "I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner, I just woke up myself. I don't expect you to wake up just because I'm here, but if you can hear me, I'm going to talk for a little while."

"Mmm," Kim murmured at Tommy looked up at her and sighed. He definitely didn't want to get his hopes up about her waking up. He needed to be realistic; if Jason and Ben had been talking to her all week and she hadn't responded, then he didn't have much hope left for himself.

"The last time you were in here, I blamed myself and I'm doing the same thing now. I couldn't protect you the way I wanted to, I definitely thought by now I'd be able to do that for you, at the very least. I know that you wanted to protect me, I know that you are much more willing than I am to accept that we never really fell out of love, it just got put on hold. I loved you before I knew what it was to really love somebody. I didn't want to at first, I didn't want anything serious in high school, but I got you. You understand me better than anyone I know and I've been stupid to try to keep our relationship so platonic. I promise that we'll be happy, one day Kim, if only you'll have me," Tommy said as he lowered the bar and laid his head across her stomach. "I love you, Kim and now I know I always have."


	10. Two Gems, Two Uncertainties

"It's so good to have you back, Billy," Kat said as they walked back down the street towards the hospital. She hated that this was the only time that she had gotten with him since he had been back, but she understood it. With both Kim and Tommy in the hospital, they would be fools to leave them alone, especially under the circumstances.

"I'm glad to be back, Kat. I just wish that things were better around here. It would make things easier on all of us," Billy said as Kat placed her arm around him.

"No one blames you about what happened," Kat said as Billy let out a sigh. None of the people that had actually been attacked had talked to him. As long as they were all right with him he would be able to take it.

"Well, until Kim and Tommy say that, I'm not going to get myself too comfortable. I should have picked up something, I was downstairs," Billy said as they walked into the hospital lobby.

"Tommy's probably here by now," Kat said as Billy nodded his head in agreement and smiled. "What's that smile for?"

"Tommy probably found some of the modifications that I made to all of our vehicles. I need to warn him only to use it in emergencies," Billy said as Kat laughed at they walked onto Kim's floor and saw Jason and Ben sitting in the lobby.

"What happened to the two of you?" Kat asked as she sat down next to Jason and he looked over at her.

"We let Tommy be alone with her. He really needs it," Ben said as Kat and Billy nodded. They could only imagine what Tommy was putting himself through right now.

"So he's beating himself up?" Kat asked as Jason nodded his head yes. "What are you thinking about Jase?"

"How much more any of us can take. We know they can't deal with much more without some support, when she wakes up, they're not going to be up for much of anything. I honestly doubt that he'll leave her with the way that things have been going around here," Jason said as Kat nodded.

"But why was he barely hurt and he still wound up in a coma?" Kat asked as Billy shrugged his shoulders.

"Maybe something else is protecting them. If Tommy had been awake all this time, he'd be worried sick that it was taking her this long to recover. It may be a blessing in disguise that he was knocked out as well," Billy said as Kat nodded.

"Do you think that he might have gone to sleep?" Ben asked as Jason nodded his head yes. Tommy had looked tired to him and he knew that Kim was the best pillow Tommy would ever have. "Then one of us needs to go back in there just in case."

"Yeah," Jason said as he stood up, then looked over at Billy. "Will you go? I need to call Trini."

"Yeah, go ahead Jason," Billy said as he stood and Kat gave him a hug. "I'll call when I leave tonight."

"That's fine, tell Tommy I hope things get better," Kat said a Billy nodded.

"I guess I need to get back to Reefside, Tommy will be able to help you now. Somebody's got to keep the gym alive," Ben said as Billy nodded at him as he turned to walk out and Billy headed for Kim's room.

"You're still out," Tommy murmured as he woke up and felt his back catch because of the awkward position he had slept in. He had not meant to go to sleep, but it had been too tempting to do so. "Oh, Beautiful, I need you more than I realized."

"Hey," Billy said as he slipped in and Tommy looked over at him. "I have some bad news for you."

"Does it have to do with Kim?" Tommy asked as Billy shook his head no and Tommy gave him a skeptical look. He was sure that he could deal with any other sort of bad news, as long as it didn't have to do with Kim's condition.

"Hayley found two new gems and there seems to be no teenagers able to take it and none of us seem to be right, so that leaves the two of you," Billy said as Tommy let out a disgruntled sigh. This was not the sort of news that he wanted to hear right now. He knew that he was going to make Kim mad when she heard all of this, but that was why they gave it to him to tell her.

"I promised her I wouldn't be a ranger, but I don't think I can really stop it now," Tommy said as Kim squirmed and he looked down at her.

"She could be one too, Tommy. There is another gem available for her," Billy said as Tommy shook his head no. He was sure that he did not want that to happen. "Why not? You'd both be protected."

"We don't need to give Mesogogg another reason to come after her," Tommy said, adamantly, as Billy sighed. They had been afraid Tommy would put up a fight, he just didn't think it would be this bad. He had thought that Tommy might see some logic in protecting the both of them.

"But do we want to give him one of the gems?" Billy asked as Tommy shook his head no.

"I'll talk with her but I doubt she'll like the idea," Tommy said as he played with Kim's hand to try to distract himself from the news that he had just recieved. "I don't think that she wants to be a ranger herself, otherwise she would have come to me sooner."

"I don't like the idea either, but it's the best we have so far," Billy said as he noticed Tommy's eyes. He hadn't seen him this stressed in years, but he had faith that if Tommy were here Kim would wake up. "You eaten anything since you woke up?"

"No, but I'm fine," Tommy said as he went back to staring at Kim.

"Tommy, go get something, she's not going anywhere," Billy said as Tommy begrudgingly stood up and Billy gave him a sympathetic look. "There's a vending machine down the hall if you don't want to leave the hospital."

"Thanks," Tommy said as he left the room and Billy sat down in the chair across from Tommy's.

"Don't keep doing this to him," Billy whispered as Kim reached over and started pulling at the I.V. "You gotta have that, honey; you don't need to yank it out."

"It hurts," Kim said as Billy looked over at her and she opened her eyes. "Is Tommy all right?"

"Yeah, he's fine, he'll be back in a little bit," Billy said as Kim looked over at him and began feeling around for her glasses. "I'll get them for you, but I have to go get the doctor."

"Okay," Kim said as she sat up and bit down on her bottom lip.

"I'm…"Tommy said as he cut himself off and walked over to his chair and sat down. "Beautiful, you feeling better?"

"Yeah, I am Tommy," Kim said as she reached over for his hand and felt her fingertips brush his face. She could tell that he hadn't shaved in days, but she didn't know why. She then gently caressed his cheek as she felt hot tears roll down it. "Tommy, it's okay, I'm fine from what I can tell."

"You were out longer than I was," Tommy said as he kissed her palm, and then leaned over to kiss her lips. "I was so worried about you."

"I'm okay, Tommy, as long as you're here, you know that," Kim said as Tommy wrapped his arms around her and she settled her body against his.

"It was too close this time," Tommy whispered as the doctor and Billy walked in and Tommy reluctantly released Kim, who still held onto Tommy's hand, as she didn't want to let him go. She had the feeling that he needed it just as much as she needed to feel his warmth.

"Ms. Hart, it's good to see you're awake," Dr. Lewis said as Kim shifted her gaze ever so slightly towards him.

"My glasses please," Kim said as Billy handed them to her and she placed them on her face. "Dr. Lewis?"

"Yes I am still here, it just took you a little longer to come around this time," Dr. Lewis said as Kim nodded. "I want to keep you overnight, to make sure you don't relapse, other than that you should be fine to go home tomorrow. Everything else has healed."

"When can I get this I.V. out?" Kim asked as it was really quite painful for her. She had been hooked up before, but it had never ached like this before.

"I'll get it out for you if it's bothering you," Dr. Lewis said as Kim held out her arm and he took out the I.V. and placed a cotton swab over it. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Billy, why don't you go spend some time with Kat? I think we'll be fine," Tommy said as Billy gave him an odd look.

"All right, I'll call Trini and Zack to let them know she's awake. I'm assuming Trini has access to your car, correct?" Billy asked as Tommy nodded his head yes. He knew the two of them were going to have a long night ahead of them.

"It's so good to have you back," Tommy said as he gently caressed her cheek and she reached up for his hand. "Kim, we've got a lot ahead of us."

"I know, Tommy. I knew it when I came to you," Kim said as she scooted over and patted the space of the bed next to her. He then kicked off his shoes and crawled into bed next to her and she quickly snuggled up to his side. "You feel good."

"So do you," Tommy said as Kim's hand rested against his thigh. "Kim, I have some news for you and I don't know if you'll like it."

"What could it be to make you talk like that?" Kim asked as he shifted her body some to where he was more comfortable.

"Two more gems," Tommy said as Kim looked up at him in disbelief. She could tell by the look in his eyes that this wasn't it, there was more to come, more that would make her even more uncomfortable. "They want us to take them."

"Tommy, I don't know if I can," Kim said in a slightly panicked tone as Tommy gently rubbed her arm. He knew that he needed to keep her as calm as possible, they were still on the ropes about so many things and he did not want to add this to the ever growing list.

"And I'm not going to make you Kim, you have to choose on your own, but I need to Kim. That little bit of protection might help me, help us," Tommy said as Kim buried her face in the crook of his neck and nodded as the tears fell. She could not disagree with him, but she didn't want this to happen. She knew what might happen to Tommy if he became a ranger again and she didn't like thinking about that possibility.

"I know that you have to do this for yourself, but I don't know if I can Tommy. I don't know if my body can take it, not after what's happened to me over the last few weeks," Kim murmured as Tommy nodded and pulled her as close into his side as he could.

"I'm not going to make you Kim, I know what it might do to you as well as you do," Tommy said as he looked up at the ceiling for answers.

"I love you, Tommy," Kim said as Tommy felt her shaking in his arms and she curled up against him as he tried to comfort her.

"I love you too, Beautiful, I love you too," Tommy said as he kissed her forehead and smiled down at her.

"Promise me something Tommy," Kim said as Tommy nodded that he would and Kim settled her head on his chest. "Promise me you won't die; promise me that I won't have to live without you, because I don't know if I can."

"I promise, Beautiful," Tommy said as he wiped the tears away and Kim then sat up and kissed Tommy with all the passion she could muster. "Don't tempt me."

"I want to, Tommy," Kim admitted as Tommy pulled her into a tight embrace and closed his eyes. He knew his limitations and with his other girlfriends he had a good deal of perseverance before it got to him. Kim was not the same and he knew that he shouldn't let himself get carried away, not here, not now.

"If you do we'll regret it in the morning," Tommy whispered as Kim kissed him again and he deepened the kiss of his own accord. This place certainly had no appeal to him and he was sure that Kim felt the same.

"Tommy," Kim breathed as they broke apart and he looked down at her. "I could never regret you."

"Then let's do this when we're at home," Tommy said as he gave her a gentle kiss and she nodded. Tommy was committed to the two of them; she just had to wait for when the time was right. She could only hope it didn't take Tommy almost dying for him to realize what they would miss. They knew anything with each other would be better than living without knowing what could have been.


	11. Friends in Low Places

"How do you think they did?" Jason asked as Trini shrugged her shoulders. She honestly didn't know how she could even attempt to answer that.

"We'll be lucky if they didn't make each other senseless, if you catch my drift," Zack said as Jason glanced over at Trini, who was studying the roof interior. Neither of them wanted to go anywhere near that subject right now, but Zack had brought it up very early in the morning before they had even had a chance to talk abou it themselves. "So that's what the two of you did."

"Not exactly," Trini muttered as her face turned rather red and Zack shook his own in disbelief. He had known that it was coming, especially after everything that had happened lately. They needed some assurance that their lives were going to work out right and that had been the one thing that they had withheld from each other for years.

"All those years of pent up emotions were finally about to be released," Zack laughed as Jason batted at his head and he ducked.

"You could say the same for them," Trini said as Zack shook his head in disagreement. Everything was different about Tommy and Kim's relationship, they all knew that. Things might have been pent up, but it was a very different kind of pent up emotional state. "What's so different then?"

"They had years of nothing or pretending to hate each other, that may make things a tad bit harder to have go on. They have a lot to get over before they can freely be with the other person," Zack said as Trini and Jason exchanged a glance then Jason grabbed her hand.

"Yeah we can only hope," Trini said as Jason parked in front of the hospital and they all tumbled out.

"You don't want to see them like that?" Zack asked as Trini gave him a disgusted look.

"I wonder if Billy told them about the gems," Jason said as Zack and Trini looked at each other. If he had, it had not been a happy night for the two of them after all. They all knew that neither one of them wanted to hear about any more powers; that might send them over the edge, especially considering the fact that they were being asked to take the powers.

"That's not good for them," Trini said as Jason nodded that he agreed.

"But they have to know about it sometime, they might as well be told now, so that they'll have some time to think about it," Jason said as Zack looked at Kim's door and then at the other two. "Go on."

"Good morning," Zack said, tentatively, as the nurse held a finger in front of her mouth to silence him. She did not want for anyone to wake the two of them up.

"They're still sleeping," Sarah Felix said as Zack nodded and they slipped in. The two of them were curled up together and Tommy had wrapped Kim up in his arms.

"At least they slept good," Trini whispered as she sat down next to the bed and watched as Kim rubbed her head against Tommy's chest.

"Yeah," Jason said as he jokingly sat in her lap.

"Jase," Trini laughed as he rocked on her knees and Tommy looked back at them with a reproachful glare. He was actually enjoying his sleep and did not want to be woken up by anything, even his friends.

"Shh, Trini," Jason whispered as Tommy swatted at him, then pulled the cover up over his eyes, hoping that that would block out some of the noise. "Look what you've done."

"You sat in my lap," Trini said as Tommy threw the covers off and glared at Jason and Trini as Kim squirmed against his chest.

"I'm going to kill the two of you," Tommy said as Kim pulled him back down and settled back down on his chest.

"Not if she keeps you still," Jason said as Tommy looked between Kim and Jason and then turned away and closed his eyes to try to sleep.

"Kim always wins," Trini muttered as Jason smiled and Tommy finally sat up, as he knew he could no longer sleep.

"Tommy," Kim grumbled as she landed on the bed and reached over him for her glasses.

"Sorry, I was woken up," Tommy said as he glared over at Trini and Jason.

"Just because you didn't get any, doesn't mean that the rest of us are miserable," Jason said as Kim and Tommy stared at them, mouths wide open.

"Since when did this become a subject we talk about freely and before any of us are thoroughly wasted?" Kim stammered as Jason looked over at Zack. "You started this?"

"I was just kidding with them and then I found out things that I didn't want to know," Zack said as Tommy rolled off the bed and slipped on his shoes. He had heard enough to know that he needed to move away from Kim and try to get his thoughts together before they interrogated him.

"Did you know about the gems?" Tommy asked as he was desperate to switch the subject away from sex as he and Kim honestly needed to stay away from that as long as they could. He was really nervous about having to deal with that and Kim suddenly didn't seem nervous anymore.

"Yes, but no switching the subject on us," Trini said as Kim gave her a firm stare as Tommy walked out of the room. "Guys, go, I think us girls need to talk."

"Trini," Kim said as she held up her hand and Kim went silent.

"What's going on between the two of you?" Trini asked as Kim let out a sigh.

"Too many questions about being ready to move on in our relationship. I think we both want to, but there is something that's holding Tommy back and I'm not quite sure what that something is," Kim said as Trini gave her a quizzical look. She could think of lots of things that would hold Tommy back, but the most logical was going to piss Kim off to no end.

"He knows what you used to dream and Kim, as many of your dreams that have gone wrong, he wants to make one be right," Trini said as Kim could only nod. She was sure that was why Tommy hadn't done anything, but she had told him it didn't matter anymore. That dream was not nearly as important as he was to her.

"If it's him, it won't much matter to me when it is," Kim said as Trini nodded. She understood what it was like to feel this way, but Tommy was more stubborn than Jason, they all knew that and they all knew that once he got an idea stuck in his head, it took a miracle to get him to change his mind.

"But it does to Tommy and he's got to be respected like the rest of us," Trini said as Kim looked over at her. "Not that you disrespected him, but it may just take him a long time to come around. He has never been one to purposefully disappoint you."

"I feel like I need to prove this to Tommy, I guess more for myself than anyone else. I want him to know that he's the only one I've ever wanted like this," Kim said as Trini just shook her head.

"I think the two of you need more time than we thought," Trini said as she stood and Kim tried to stop her, but Trini just shook her head. "You need to talk to him, not me."

"Damn," Kim muttered as Trini shoved Tommy back inside and he gave Kim a confused look. He had absolutely no clue what was going on and Kim didn't look like she was exactly ready to open up about it either.

"Kim, please," Tommy said as Kim patted the bit of bed next to her and he walked over and sat down next to her.

"Don't worry Tommy," Kim said as her hands grasped one of his.

"Yeah right, I'm not going to worry about this subject," Tommy said as Kim released him and just shook her head.

"If I say I understand, will you at least look at me?" Kim asked as Tommy looked down at her and then pulled her in close.

"Kim, you know how I feel, but I know now is not the right time. If something happened now and we do anything, I won't be able to live with myself if I lose you. We both know we want it, but I know that when things get bad, everyone likes to live like there is no tomorrow. Kim, I don't want you to regret not getting what you've always wanted. There is so much in your life that has turned out wrong, let me make this be right," Tommy said as Kim nodded, then wrapped her arms around him.

"I just feel like I have so much to make you understand. I know some of the things that I did weren't right. I just want you to know I never have wanted anyone but you, even when I was away," Kim said looking up at him as he smiled down at her.

"I've lost so much time already Kim. I understand and you don't have to prove anything, I know you better than you remember," Tommy said as Jason, Zack, and Trini burst into the room.

"What's going on?" Kim asked as Jason snatched her off the bed and Tommy leapt up after her.

"An attack in Reefside, the two of you have to go," Jason said as Tommy wrapped his arms around Kim and felt them being teleported away and was surprised when he saw that they had landed in her apartment.

"Clothes," Kim murmured as she could see smoke rising from her window and she ran over to her closet and began pulling things out. "Go on, I'll catch up."

"Hell no," Tommy said as Kim pulled on her clothes and then pulled her hair back in a ponytail, as she started walking towards her sneakers. "You're not going, you've been passed out in the hospital for two weeks."

"So have you, I'm going Tommy," Kim said as she laced up her shoes and glared over at him. They then heard a loud boom, which caused them to forget their fight and sprint from the room. It didn't matter if Tommy didn't want Kim there, she was going to be there now, just because things did not seem like they were going to go smoothly.

"Where'd you come from?" Ben asked as Tommy burst into the gym and headed for the front door with Kim right behind him. "Whoa, can't you stop and explain?"

"No time now," Kim yelled over her shoulder as she continued forward. "Don't lock up, I'll be back soon enough."

"What the hell was that?" Ben asked confusedly, as he continued to stare at the front door. Kim had done some odd things in the past, but this was the weirdest thing that he had ever seen.

"I hope they have the gems," Tommy said as they heard another explosion and he covered Kim up as he pressed her against the nearest building. He did not want to risk her getting hurt anymore, especially after just being released from the hospital.

"We've got to be close," Kim said as the people in the general vicinity were running in the opposite direction, which was always a dead giveaway that they were about to run into a full out battle.

"Yeah, be careful," Tommy warned as they ran along and Kim gave him an infuriated glare. Sometimes his protectiveness got on her last nerve and for some reason it was doing that today.

"I'm not new to this," Kim said as they could now see the rangers and that they had warranted for Mesogogg to show up. It made no sense to her why Mesogogg would want to attack them, unless he had something more sinister planned. That thought, however, only flittered through her mind, it didn't really stay long enough for it to register that this was probably what Mesogogg wanted, for her and Tommy to have to come here, right after getting out of the hospital.

"You have no powers," Tommy said as he snatched a black gem out of Conner's hand and held it in front of him, just in time to block a stream of power from Mesogogg. He then disappeared in a rather violent explosion, causing all of them to wander what had happened to him.

"Dr. O," Kira said as Kim let out an agonized scream.

"Tommy!" Kim yelled as she looked back at Conner, who wielded a sword and her eyes narrowed. Mesogogg was about to pay. "Give me that."

"This?" Conner asked as Kim nodded her head yes and then snatched the sword from him. "We have another gem."

"Don't have the time for that," Kim said as she trudged towards Mesogogg, sword in hand.

"I finally killed him," Mesogogg laughed as Kim brought the sword down across his chest and he looked down at her. "Aw, how cute, finally fighting for him."

"Give me that gem," Kim said, angrily, as she put on the bracelet and then morphed. "You're dead."

"That's a laugh," Mesogogg said as Kim slung him to the ground.

"Kim, don't," Tommy said as he reappeared and the startled white ranger looked back at him. What had just happened here? She could have sworn that she saw him vanish, into thin air.

"Another time," Kim said as Mesogogg dove through an invisaportal and she slowly turned around as she powered down.

"It's okay," Tommy said as he wrapped his arms around her as she began to shake. He then cupped her cheek and gave her a kiss on the forehead, hoping to calm her nerves. It always made them jumpy when they took a new set of powers, especially in a situation like this one.

"No, something's wrong," Kim said as she clutched her stomach and doubled over in pain.

"Let's get you back," Tommy said as he bent down next to her and wrapped his arms around her. "It's going to be fine Beautiful, it's going to be fine."


	12. White Lightning

Tommy sat in his living room, mad at himself and at the world. Hayley and Billy had kicked him and the others out of the Command Center hours ago. Kim had stopped screaming out in pain, but no one had come to get him, which left him there to stew with his own thoughts. He knew it was no good to sit here and think like this, but he didn't have anything really productive to do that was not in the Command Center. No matter how much he wanted to have something to do up here, his thoughts kept going back to her and he knew that it was going to be like this until he got to see her again.

"Dr. O, where were you?"Kira asked as Tommy looked over at her. She was trying to distract him from his thoughts, but it was not working too well. He kept going right back into the hole that he was digging for himself.

"I was invisible, but I couldn't move, couldn't speak, and couldn't do anything to protect her. I couldn't do anything to stop her from taking that gem," Tommy whispered as they went silent again. They wanted to hear anything but that and now that they knew what he was thinking, they didn't think things were going to be good with him. It was one thing for him to become a ranger, but none of them wanted for Kim to have to be put in this position. It was almost too much to have to deal with, along with everything else that was going on in her life.

"It's not your fault, Kim did that on her own," Kira said as Tommy shook his head. They still didn't understand what this was going to mean for them in the long run. He did and he was sure that the other rangers knew what it meant as well. "How's it your fault?"

Kim already had problems with Mesogogg and now Mesogogg was going to have some severe problems with Kim. That was what always happened when they were rangers and they had history with the evil being. He should know, he had had to deal with it with Rita and Zedd and look at where that had landed him. He had lost his powers; he had been made into a new ranger, and then put on more teams than he could count. This was the beginning of something that no one else had ever experienced, except him and he did not want to bring that up to Kim or anyone. He knew that they would get the jest and then worry about it themselves. This was one thing that he did not think spreading the worry would help.

"Because she thought I was gone, because I picked up the gem with the power of invisibility," Tommy said as comprehension dawned on all their faces. "She didn't want for me to become ranger and now I am one. It scares her so bad that she doesn't know what to do with herself. She knows the risks, just as well as I do and to be honest the risks for us run just a little bit higher than the risks for you. They know we have experience and they're going to try to bring out some of the worst things that have ever happened to us. I'm sure that they did their research before they set us up to have to be rangers."

"It's all right, Dr. O. Kim's pretty tough," Conner commented as Ethan and Kira nodded their heads in agreement. They hadn't been around Kim for a long time, but they knew that she had taken more than they ever thought they would be able to, in a very short period of time.

"Not tough enough to take all of this at the same time. No one's body can stand up to this without problems, I know from experience. It doesn't feel good to have all of this happen at once," Tommy said as the trap door creaked open and Billy appeared with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Tommy, you can go on down," Billy said as Tommy stood up and walked as quickly as he could to the trap door. "You three need to go home, Tommy is not going to be a good person to be around for the next few hours."

"No, we're staying," Kira said as Conner and Ethan nodded in agreement. "He deserves some support."

"None of you understand, Tommy doesn't need any of us down there. He's mad at himself and furious with Mesogogg. We need to give him space because until he's satisfied that Kim is better he is not someone you want to be around," Billy said as Kira looked over at the other two.

"We're fine with sitting up here, we just want Dr. O to know that we actually care and that we're not going to abandon our fellow ranger, I guess that's what he is now," Kira said as Billy nodded his head and then walked into the kitchen to get himself a glass of water. He hadn't had to work this hard in years and it was starting to catch up with him.

----------

"Hey," Tommy said as Kim turned towards him and gave him a weak smile. "You didn't have to take the powers."

"Yeah, I know that now. At the time I thought you were dead, so I was going to do everything I could to kill Mesogogg," Kim said as she let out a barely audible moan, as she tried to sit up.

"Just lay down Kim, it's all right," Tommy said as he reached for her hand and she moved it away.

"No, it's not Tommy, neither of us is ready for this. We're not ready to deal with it all again and our bodies are so much older. I don't know if we can fight anymore. I know I definitely can't fight like that anymore," Kim said as Tommy again tried to grab her hand and she moved it away.

"Kim don't…don't do this," Tommy said as Kim suddenly sat up and looked over at him.

"Why shouldn't I?" Kim asked in an icy tone as Tommy looked up at her, scared that she was talking to him like this. He knew this voice, but he didn't remember where he had heard it yet. "You mean nothing to me."

"Kim, you're scaring me," Tommy said as he reached up and held her shoulders and she gave him an evil glare. He did not want a re-run of Murianthius, but that was what was about to happen. He could hear it and see it in her and he knew that was not a good thing for him. He was about to see the one woman he loved become evil, again. "Come on, look at me."

"Screw you," Kim said as she shoved Tommy into the panels and he watched as she stormed out, the new evil ranger.

"Why are you back up here?" Billy asked as Tommy walked over to his fridge and dug out a beer. He did not care that the other rangers were still there, after everything that had happened today, the least he deserved was one beer to his name. "The kids are still here, you may not…"

"Damn it all to hell, Kim's evil and we're screwed because I don't even think I can reach her," Tommy said as he sat down in his recliner and slumped over. "She's going to kill me one of these days. She is going to kill me."

"Nope, she still loves you deep down inside you know that," Billy said as Tommy looked over at him and he then looked at the young rangers.

"Welcome to the real ranger life," Tommy said as he took a sip of his beer and leaned back, glad that tomorrow was Saturday and he would not have to deal with the consequences too early in the morning. "Where everything gets so screwed up in only five minutes."

"You know we'll get her back," Billy said as Tommy just shook his head. He was beginning to doubt that was possible, none of them had seen the way she reacted to him, to his touch to all the things that used to comfort her. She didn't want any of it and it hurt, even though she was under a spell she could not control.

"You better call Ben and the others. I need to try to find her before she gets too far away," Tommy said as the rangers stood to go with him. "Let her hurt me, I don't want any of you to be affected."

"We're going to be. Dr. O, you are one of us now. Everything that happens to you, happens to us," Kira said as Ethan and Conner nodded.

"We're a team and we don't let each other down," Conner said as Tommy let out a sigh and then motioned for them to follow him. Why had he instilled teamwork in them?

"But all of you have to promise me something. You have to promise that if I tell you to leave, you will. Kim is ruthless when she is evil and the fact that it slowly took a hold of her is hopeful, but it's going to be a long road to get her back," Tommy said as he looked around and then headed off towards the cave entrance.

-----------

"I've got to get back at him, got to," Kim murmured as Tommy and the rangers walked up behind her and Tommy placed a hand on her shoulder. He knew that she might do something, but he had to risk it, to hope that maybe his touch would do something positive. "Get away from me."

"I'm not going to Kim, I love you and you love me," Tommy said as Kim smacked him hard on the face and he walked closer to her. "Come on, fight it Kim."

"I don't want to fight it," Kim spat as she slung Tommy away from her and he stood up and walked back towards her. "You're going to die; Mesogogg will love to have me at his side."

"Kim, please, do anything but that," Tommy begged as Kim spat in his face and then ran off to an invisaportal that had appeared moments before. "Kim!"

"Dr. O, we'll get her back," Ethan said as Tommy sank to his knees and covered his face. He could not believe that he was seeing this, that he was losing Kim again, especially after only just getting her back.

"I'm in deep trouble," Tommy said as he watched the portal disappear and with it his hope. "This is exactly what Mesogogg wanted and Kim's going to hate herself when she gets back to normal. Everything she does now is going to push her further down into the hole she is in."

"Don't be so tough on yourself; there was nothing we could do to stop it," Kira said as Tommy looked back at her.

"I could have taken that gem and she would be fine," Tommy said as he just shook his head.

"Then you'd be evil. Dr. O there has to be a reason for everything. Come on, think about everything that has happened in the past," Ethan said as Conner pulled Tommy up and he looked back over his shoulder one last time.

"But if we hadn't been so stupid, if I had listened to her, if I hadn't left her with any doubts about us; she'd believe me. It wouldn't be so hard to fight this," Tommy said as the rangers exchanged glances. What was Dr. O talking about? "Go on home. I need to be alone right now."

"But Dr. O," Ethan said as Tommy looked over at him and shook his head. He didn't have time for any buts or attempts to keep him company; he had business to take care of.

"I know you want to help, but I have to have some time alone right now. There are just some things that you don't need to be involved in," Tommy said as he walked back through the woods to the cave entrance.

"Let's go to Hayley's, we probably need to warn her," Ethan said as Conner put his arm around Kira and walked towards his car.

-----------

"Hey, Kim," Hayley said as Kim walked into the cyberspace and she sat down at a computer. "When did they let you out of the hospital?"

"Leave me alone," Kim said, angrily, as Hayley gave Kim a suspicious look, then walked away. She felt that she needed to check with Tommy before she went into a further conversation with Kim.

"All right, let me know if you need anything," Hayley said as she walked back over to the bar and just shook her head.

"Hey," Kira said as she walked up to Hayley and Hayley gave her a smile.

"Whoa, what's wrong?" Hayley asked as Conner pointed towards Kim and Kira's eyes widened. "Guys, silence isn't a good answer."

"Kim's evil now," Kira murmured as Hayley's eyes widened as Kim yelled at the computer and then stormed out of the cyberspace.

"That's not good," Hayley muttered as she walked over to the computer and pulled up the history. "Oh no."

"What?" Ethan asked as he looked at the web page and let out a shudder himself, as he had an eerie feeling what this man might have become. "She's looking for Mesogogg."

"I'm afraid that she is and I'm sure that Tommy already knows that. Did he make you leave?" Hayley asked as they nodded their heads yes and Hayley just shook her head. She knew exactly what Tommy was up to now. "He's going to go after her alone."

"He's crazy to try to do that, she's twice as strong as she looks," Conner said as Hayley looked at Conner, knowing that he had an idea why. "Unless he knows something that we don't."

"Bingo," Hayley said as the rangers looked at each other. What could Dr. O possibly know about this situation that was not the obvious? Was it something they should know or something that only Kim and Tommy shared?


	13. Old Faces, New Problems

"Kimberly, oh Kimberly, come on out, I know you want to," Mesogogg said as Kim walked out from behind a stack of crates and looked at him. She had known that he would come to her here and was happy that her plan worked. "You picked the right gem."

"I guess I did," Kim said as she placed her arms around him in a tight embrace and gave him the warmest evil smile she could. She was so happy to be back here with him and it was well worth her time to do this. "Tommy still needs to be brought down and I guess it's best for me to do it. It'll definitely make it worth his while to have to fight me again."

"I'm glad that you finally agree with me," Mesogogg said as Kim gave him an evil grin and looked around the area. She could sense that Tommy was near and that they must leave. Mesogogg was not ready to go up against Tommy just yet. "We must get away, we do not wish for Mr. Oliver to find you while you are not ready."

"I'm always ready to fight for you," Kim said as a man entered the alley way and Kim gave Mesogogg a gentle push towards the back of the alley. "Go on, I'll take care of it."

"Ma'am are you okay?" Trent asked as Kim laughed.

"Pretty boy, it would be best for you to just leave. You don't want to know what's going on here," Kim said as Trent saw a shape lurking in the far corner of the alley way. He did not want to leave this woman alone, it just seemed crazy that she would not want some sort of help with whatever problem she was having.

"No one is bothering you?" Trent asked as Kim just let a frustrated sigh and then pushed him away from her.

"You are, leave before I have to hurt you," Kim seethed as her eyes flickered and Trent's eyes widened in shock as he turned away and exited the alley way as quickly as possible.

"That was?" Mesogogg asked as he came out of the shadows and Kim shrugged her shoulders.

"Some little teenager that doesn't know anything, at least he understood that leaving was in his best interest," Kim said as Mesogogg smiled. "Tommy won't be so smart. He'll want to help me out; there's no helping me anymore."

"Let's go," Mesogogg said as they walked through an invisaportal and Tommy ran up to the alley just in time to miss seeing it close.

"Crap," Tommy said as he looked around. He now had no signal for Kim, which did not comfort him. It meant she must be with Mesogogg and he knew what that meant for him. It was going to be so much work for him to get there and then convince her that being good was in her best interest. "Why now? Why take her away from me when I'm so close? Why?"

"This isn't going to help you Tommy," Aisha said as Tommy slowly turned around. He hadn't seen her in years and he couldn't help but wonder why she was here now.

"But we will," Rocky said as Tommy could only shake his head in confusion. He didn't know how they knew about this, but he was thankful to see anyone that might be able to help. "They sent us to help; everyone else has used up lots of their off time lately. It seems that the two of you have been in quite a bit of trouble."

"I have never been so glad to see you," Tommy said as he walked over and gave both of them hugs.

"You're not holding up and I can bet that's what he wanted to see happen," Rocky said as Tommy could only nod. He agreed that that was probably Mesogogg's intention, but he couldn't change the way that he felt. He had already tried that and it was not working. "Now what do you know about the man that he used to be?"

"Not much, but I do know someone that should be able to help us," Tommy said as they walked over to their car and Rocky smiled.

"Let's get going," Aisha said as she hopped in and Tommy nodded. "Who are we going to see by the way?"

"The co-owner of her gym. Hopefully he is still standing there, dumbfounded about where we came from," Tommy said as Rocky and Aisha nodded.

--------------

"What the hell is going on?" Ben asked as Tommy walked into the gym with two people he had never seen before. He had already had enough stress placed on him by their sudden appearance earlier today and now Tommy was here, but there was no Kim. Something about this situation made him feel just a tad bit uneasy.

"Kim hasn't come by, has she?" Tommy asked as Ben shook his head no and Tommy let out a sigh. He had been hoping Kim would make contact with someone, but it seemed that the evil had a strangle hold on her. "We need to talk."

"About what?" Ben asked as Tommy locked the front door and then walked him over to Kim's office and shut the door. "This can't be good."

"What do you know about Mesogogg's former self?" Tommy asked as Ben gave him a confused look. He didn't understand why Tommy would ask and why it was really important, but he knew that there was a reason behind everything.

"You're telling me that Mesogogg has something to do with this," Ben said as Tommy nodded his head yes and Ben sighed. "I'd love to say that I never expected it to happen, but it doesn't surprise me."

"Why doesn't it?" Tommy asked as Ben walked over to Kim's office and began rifling through her folders. She kept information on all sorts of things, so he could only hope that she would have something there.

"He was obsessed with her. He would buy this for her, do that for her, offer to take her to movies. She would laugh it off, be friendly, you know how Kim is. The problem is that he wanted more than friends and you were in his way. When he became what he is, Kim protected all of you by keeping it secret, but it never changed in his mind that Kim was rightfully his," Ben said as Aisha, Tommy, and Rocky exchanged a glance.

"You're telling me that this behavior is completely normal?" Tommy asked as Ben nodded his head yes.

"He'd go to any lengths to get her. That's why he threatened your life. It was his link to controlling her. He lost that when she came here, that's why you weren't off limits anymore. That's why he attacked you so openly. He wanted to lure her back into his fold of scrutiny. He wanted her to be afraid for your life again, so much so that she was willing to do almost anything to protect it," Ben said as Tommy let out a long sigh. The information Ben was giving him helped so much, but it also caused more concerns. He seemed to be fighting with the one man that cared as much as he did, even if it was for psychotic reasons.

"I can almost bet that he has made some precautions for what is coming next. He knows I'll try to break her out of it," Tommy said as he stood to pace around the office. "He knows that the longer she's under it, the harder it will be to break it. He knows the limits of where to push her. I don't know any of that anymore. I don't know how I will be able to do this."

"But you know Kim," Ben pointed out as Rocky and Aisha nodded. "You know her ins and outs, her likes and dislikes; you know how to make her happy, you know just how to hold her. He doesn't know that because if he did, he'd have her and you wouldn't."

"Tommy, you know spells like this only work for awhile, eventually the person breaks out on their own, they have no choice about it," Aisha said as Tommy nodded his head in recognition.

"But I almost didn't so many times. I don't know if I can take the risks of not having her come back to me," Tommy said as the door to the gym opened and Kim walked in.

"What are you doing here?" Kim asked, icily, as Tommy turned to face her, taking in the scene ever so carefully. He did not want to give her any reason to yell and scream at him.

"He's talking with me; had ideas for a dojo/ gymnastics center," Ben said, quickly, as Kim glared over at Tommy and then walked past him.

"Get him out of my gym," Kim said as Tommy, Rocky, and Aisha looked at each other and then turned to walk out the door. They did not need any extra conflict to go along with what was already happening.

"I'll swing by sometime," Ben said as Tommy merely nodded his head as he walked out the door. He couldn't stand to look back and see what he was now going to have overcome to have a normal life again. "You doing better?"

"Yeah," Kim said as she sat down in her chair and looked over at Ben. "You know I hate him, don't you?"

"I do now," Ben said as he walked over to the door and looked at the empty gym. "Why the change of heart about him?"

"It's not a change; it's always been there," Kim said as she rifled through some papers and Ben took notice of the eerie way that she did the task. "You know you could help."

"I'm staying out of this one. I've been through enough relationship problems of my own in the last year," Ben said as he pushed the door open and began to leave.

"You have no choice," Kim said as she stood up and walked over to Ben. "You're mine now.

"Kim…what…" Ben said as Kim placed a hand on his shoulder and he shuddered from the jolt he received.

"You understand me now?" Kim asked as Ben's eyes gleamed.

"Yes, I understand you perfectly," Ben said with an evil laugh as he came back inside. "Poor little rangers."


	14. Harsh Reality

Tick, tock, tick, tock. Beep, beep, beep.

"Don't let that damn thing wake him up," Rocky said as he pulled the clock out of the wall and tossed it across the room to Aisha, who hurriedly shoved it away. They wanted to insure that Tommy got all the rest that he needed before he did anything today. "Tommy deserves to sleep as long as he needs to, since today is going to be absolute hell for him."

"Yeah, I agree," Aisha said as Tommy rolled over and went back to sleep. "He is going to kill when he finds out everything that has happened."

"Yeah he is that is another reason he should sleep in. I don't want to break the news to him," Rocky said as Aisha merely nodded and they walked out of the room.

"They're not helping," Tommy muttered as he rolled over and threw off the covers. He hadn't slept well at all and had just been waiting for the morning so that he could begin the hardest part of what was ahead of him.

He could now remember all the times he had slept like this because he was worried about one thing or another. This time it was worse, he had a job, responsibilities, a team to train, and he now worried about what was going to happen with Kim. She was evil, pulled away from him again and he couldn't stand it anymore. Losing her before had been horrible, but he was too close to having her again to let this happen. He refused to lose her this time.

"Why are you up?" Aisha asked as Tommy walked into the living room, dressed and ready for the day.

"I still have work and as much as I would like to take this weekend to look for Kim, I need to check on some things before I can throw myself into that," Tommy said as they looked at him and he saw concern flicker in their eyes. "I just need to get this out of the way so I have nothing else to worry about except her."

"Tommy, Ben's not at the gym. We think that there is a chance they have gotten to him, too," Rocky said as Tommy stared over at him in shock. He had never thought Ben would become a target, but things had obviously changed in the last few hours.

"I wish that this somehow made sense," Tommy said as Aisha nodded her head in agreement. "Every time things like this happen, we're together. Why don't any other ranger couples have to go through this? Why are we the only ones?"

"I can't answer that, Tommy, but you'll get it back together, you always do," Aisha said as Tommy just shook his head, that honestly didn't matter to him. He wanted for it to be better now. He didn't want to have to wait it out any longer.

"There is always a first time for everything," Tommy said as Rocky and Aisha sighed. They hated to hear negativism out of Tommy at a time like this; they knew that meant that he did not have a lot of hope. "Am I free to go to the school for a little while?"

"Yeah, go ahead and go," Rocky said as Tommy picked up his car keys and walked out. "He needs this, you know that."

"Yeah, I do. Remember that I've been around Tommy just as long as you have," Aisha said as Rocky nodded his head, they just hadn't been in this situation in a long time and they had to remember all of the things that usually happened.

-----------

"It's wonderful here," Ben said as they stalked into the lair.

"I'm glad that you agree," Kim said as Ben and Mesogogg continued to walk around. "You know that Tommy will find us soon and we must be prepared."

"Tommy can do nothing. He is only one person that is desperately in love. Love won't work out well for him," Mesogogg said as Kim gave him a bewildered look.

"I want to experience love," Kim said, rather calmly, as Mesogogg gave her a surprised look and then tried to cover it. She already wanted outside human contact and he didn't know how to react. She was supposed to stay evil until a great evil had been done and she had not experienced that evil, yet.

"You'll find it in me," Mesogogg said as Kim gave him a look and then went back to her normal disposition.

"We have to prepare for absolutely anything because he is capable of it all. Tommy is the only ranger I know who can defeat anything that crosses his path, except his heart. We have to target that, more than anything else out there," Kim said as Mesogogg and Ben nodded and she leaned over the digital message board and looked at the topography of Reefside. She knew they had to do something to draw the rangers out, but not Tommy and she was not sure how to get that done. "Where to attack?"

"Kimberly, if I might suggest the park. I doubt Tommy will be able to make it there," Mesogogg said as Kim and Ben shook their heads no. "Where do you suggest?"

"The industrial district, it is an adequate distance away from both the school and Tommy's home. He would have to scamper to get there to help," Ben said as Kim nodded her head in agreement and then alerted the tryannadrones.

"Let's see what Dr. Oliver has taught his new rangers," Kim said as she smiled at her cohorts. "Let's just see what Tommy can do."

"I knew Tommy would never be prepared for this," Mesogogg murmured as Kim and Ben walked off. His plan was working brilliantly and by the time that Kim came out of it, Tommy would be gone and she would be completely destroyed by her own actions.

-------

"Hey, Kira," Conner said as he walked up to her in the cyberspace and sat down next to her.

"Hey, have you talked to Dr. O today?" Kira asked as Conner shook his head no. He had just walked over her because he hoped to meet up with her. They needed to have a serious talk and the both of them knew that.

"No, he's at home. I think Rocky and Aisha are going to keep him there. They don't want for him to freak about anything else," Conner said as Kira nodded. Hayley had contacted them when she found out about Ben, just to warn them, but Tommy had not been warned and they didn't want to do it. He needed to have stress lifted off of him, if at all possible.

"I think Dr. O will, no matter what. We have to go meet up with Ethan. He's at some place downtown, he told me the building. I'll know it when I see it," Kira said as Conner stood up and they walked out of the cyberspace. They had been spending more time with each other since this started and now that they knew each other both of them had questions about the other.

"Kira, we need to talk, about lots of things," Conner said as they started walking towards downtown. He had been thinking this for the last few days and he was pretty sure she had too.

"Yeah, we do," Kira said as Conner looked over at her. "I knew that I was not crazy when I thought about it today and thought that you might feel the same."

"I just don't think we could deal with ending up like Kim and Dr. O. I know that there is no way I could deal with it," Conner said as Kira nodded. She knew Dr. O and Kim had been through hell and she couldn't go through that too.

"So, you think it's worth it or do we just need to be friends?" Kira asked as Conner looked down at the pavement. He had thought this would take much longer to get around to, especially with how Kira was about things.

"I think it's worth it. There is no reason for us to wait around and then regret it later," Conner said as Kira nodded her head in agreement.

"So…" Kira said as they saw an explosion up the street and could only stare at it in complete and total shock. "Oh crap."

"Come on, let's go," Conner said as he grabbed her hand and pulled her along. There were so many people that were running away, but they had to run towards the explosion.

"What was that?" Ethan asked as they ran up to him.

"I have no clue, but we better go find out. We don't want for Dr. O to be called out of his solitude," Conner said as they continued to run on down the street until they encountered the tryannadrones.

"These things again," Kira said as Ethan and Conner looked at her. "We better kick ass."

"Yeah," Conner said as he launched himself into the fight with the tryannadrones. They had never really had to fight them when they knew to keep the backup away and now that they were it made them fight harder.

"He's done a good job," Kim muttered as she walked through the invisaportal and saw the rangers defeating the tryannadrones left and right. "You weren't prepared for Tommy, Mesogogg."

"This is child's play, no wonder they can defeat them," Mesogogg said as Kim shook her head in disagreement. They tryannadrones should have had a better chance, but they didn't and Kim was beginning to understand why.

"It shouldn't be child's play. It should be a test of their endurance and vigor," Kim said as she shook her head. "I guess I need to play along."

"Kimberly, that is not a wise thing to do," Mesogogg said as he knew interaction with the rangers might override the evil he had put into her.

"I'm supposed to challenge them. I need to show them exactly how pathetic they are," Kim said as she morphed and then stalked over to the rangers as Mesogogg watched in horror.

"She's messing up your plan, isn't she?" Ben asked with a smirk as Mesogogg gave him a confused look. He was supposed to be evil as well. "Kim is a good judge of character, that's why I'm here instead of the Power Ranger you asked for.

"How did you?" Mesogogg asked as Ben watched the three rangers carry Kim away from the battlefield, unable to walk under her own power. He had known that he had to get her out of there, even if his deal said that she needed to stay much longer.

"It's easy to undo evil with good. She choose good again and you lost. She's the only one who could actually play this off," Ben said as Mesogogg dove at him and he leapt out f the way. "Don't try this again, because Tommy will get you next time."

"He can't touch me," Mesogogg said as the black ranger landed behind him and slung him to the ground, furious about what he had just heard.

"How could you do that to her?" Tommy roared as Ben gave him a confused look. He didn't know anything that had happened to Kim other than her being evil for a brief period of time. "She didn't deserve that, no one does."

"What happened?" Ben asked as Tommy continued to pummel Mesogogg with all the strength that he had left in his body.

"He…he…" Tommy began, but he could not bring himself to say it. It was far too much for him to be able to handle right now.

"I can still be human, so I took what she has always withheld. I think it was a perfectly fair trade-off," Mesogogg said as Ben looked at Tommy in awe as he merely nodded his head that it was true.

"Tommy, man, don't you need to with Kim," Ben said as Tommy stopped his assault and looked at Ben. As much as he wanted to continue this he knew that Ben had a valid point. Kim needed him much more than Mesogogg needed his ass handed to him on a platter.

"I don't forget," Tommy seethed as he turned and walked away from Mesogogg with Ben right behind him.

"It's all over now," Mesogogg murmured as he picked himself up and walked over to an open invisaportal. "Good while it lasted."


	15. Safety

Silence. That was all that could be heard at Tommy's home. No one looked over even breathed hard; they all knew what had happened, but no one wanted to deal with it. That was why the people in the living room sat there trying to imagine a much better day and finding it hard to do. Every thought seemed to pull them back to one thing and that was the one thing that none of them had ever wanted to face. This was not something that the rangers had dealt with before, it was something that was more evil than any of the monsters that they had ever faced.

"Damn it," Jason muttered as he stood and walked over to the back door, which overlooked the woods. He had been called from Angel Grove and by the time everything was explained to him all he could do was sit and fume. He knew that Tommy's fuming was much worse than his own, but he wanted to kill Mesogogg and if Tommy didn't manage that soon, then he would definitely try it himself.

"Jason," Trini said as she walked over and put her arm around him. "Tommy will take care of things, you know that."

"Tommy needs taking care of himself. He needs somebody else to worry about this," Jason said as Trini merely nodded that she agreed, however, Tommy was going to take care of Kim, no matter what else happened or how he actually felt. He cared about her more than he cared about himself.

"Yes, but he'll handle that later. There are priorities he has to up hold right now," Trini said as Billy walked up and sat down next to Kat, just shaking his head.

"The tests look good, but I won't know anything for sure for a couple more days," Billy said as they let out a collective sigh. They had never been so relieved to hear test results. "Tommy is about to lose his mind though; Mesogogg keeps sending transmissions to Kim."

"Can't he just disconnect it?" Ethan asked as Billy gave him a sad look and shook his head no. If it was that simple they would have done that a long time ago.

"It's going to be a long night," Hayley said as she looked around the room. All of them knew just how hard this was going to be, but only one person had to deal with it.

----------

"You did everything you could, Tommy," Kim whispered as she moved over to his side. "The evil surge took me there and by the time…I couldn't…I wasn't…"

"Oh, Kim," Tommy whispered as he pulled her into a strong hug. He had imagined times when he would hear bad things happening to her and what his reaction would be, but this was certainly worse than anything he had ever imagined. "I'm in so much trouble with you. I never thought this day would come."

"Neither did I, but we'll make it…we have to," Kim choked out as she wiped her eyes and Tommy held her even tighter. He knew that Kim depended on him, but never knew exactly how much until now. This ordeal had put everything into perspective for him.

"I don't know how to make you feel better," Tommy murmured as Kim placed her head on his shoulder and she lay there, completely silent.

"You've never been through this before. I don't expect you to know, I'm just glad that you're here," Kim said as Tommy let out a broken sob and she looked down at him in concern. This was not like Tommy at all, but this situation had to push him over the edge. He had been fighting to keep control, but that no longer mattered. He now had much more on his mind.

"This isn't where some guy came up and grabbed your ass, I could deal with that. I don't know how to deal with this. I don't know how to make you feel better when all I want to do is hunt Mesogogg down and kill him," Tommy said as Kim curled closer to him and said nothing. There was nothing she could say to make him feel better and nothing she could do to change the way he felt. She honestly was scared out of her mind and Tommy knew that, but right now they both had to deal with letting reality sink in.

"Tommy, I understand if you don't want to see me anymore," Kim whispered as Tommy looked up at her in wide-eyed shock. He hadn't mentioned not wanting her, so why would she bring that up? Why would she think that he would want to leave her, especially now?

"This doesn't change anything," Tommy said as Kim shook her head no and he gave her a confused look.

"It changes everything, we're not the same anymore. You won't be…" Kim trailed off as Tommy covered his eyes and nodded. As sad as it was, he had thought the same thing, but he didn't want to say anything about it to her. He knew it would only make her feel worse and that was something he wanted to avoid right now, if that was at all possible.

"I don't care," Tommy said as he looked her in the eyes and she could only stare at him in confusion. She was sure that he would feel differently about her, it was what she had seen out of every other man in her life. Why would he be any different? "I've got you."

"But…" Kim began as Tommy shook his head to stop her.

"I've got you and I know it's going to take awhile to heal, but I'm here when you're ready. No more of this pushing you away, I've learned my lesson the hard way," Tommy said as Kim nodded through the tears. "You know I love you."

"Yeah," Kim murmured as they heard the trap door creak open and Billy peaked in.

"What's going on?" Tommy asked as Billy walked down the stairs and sat down in front of the two of them.

"Just more tests," Billy said as Kim whimpered and Billy looked down at the floor. He hated to be the one that had to do all of this to her. "You know this would have been easier if you had gone to the hospital."

"Yeah and have her try to explain that she was raped by a demented creature, I don't think so," Tommy said as Billy just nodded his head. He had no reply for that and he didn't think arguing his point would do any good. Tommy had already decided to stick by her, no matter what else happened.

"You know I'm breaking every law known to man though," Billy said as Kim nodded her head yes. She knew that all of these tests had to go somewhere and be done by some physician, but they all had friends in high places. It kinda just happened from being a Power Ranger and all the people that they had met or saved in their younger days.

"And I thank you for that," Kim said as Billy looked between the two of them.

"We're all going home for the night. I'll just do the tests tomorrow, go ahead and take a shower. I know it'll make you feel better," Billy said as Kim nodded and he got up to leave. "Take care of each other."

"Yes, daddy," Kim joked as Billy just shook his head and walked out of the room. Everything hadn't hit Kim yet and he was sure that when it did, Tommy was going to have to do things he never expected. "I just want to go to bed Tommy."

"I figured as much. Come on, I'll get you settled in. I've got to work on my lesson plans for the next couple of days, just in case," Tommy said as Kim nodded and then stood up from his lap.

"Can you just sit in there with me?" Kim asked as Tommy nodded his head yes and then followed her up the stairs. He was going to do whatever it was that she needed. He knew how important it was to help her out right now.

"You're taking next week off, right?" Tommy asked as Kim nodded her head yes. She honestly wanted to avoid anyone that could figure out what was really wrong with her. She didn't need those sorts of questions right now. She just needed to be able to heal before she tried to get back to a normal life. "You're staying here."

"Tommy, I'd be fine," Kim said as Tommy shook his head no. He was not taking any chances this time, no matter what she said about it. He had learned that if things looked bad he had to keep her close or Mesogogg was going to take advantage of everything that was going on. "Tommy…"

"I don't want you waking up, terrified in the middle of the night and be completely alone. I can't deal with that picture running through my head at night, because if I get a phone call, I'm going to be scared out of my wits," Tommy said as Kim quietly nodded. Tommy had always been overprotective of her and now that he had a reason, he was going to push it even further.

"Okay, you made your point," Kim said as Tommy reached over and took her hand.

"I know that you don't want…" Tommy started as Kim put his arm around her and pulled herself closer to him.

"You make me feel safe," Kim whispered as Tommy gave her a surprised look. "You knew that Tommy, don't act like this is new to you."

"I just didn't think that you would feel safe with anyone anymore," Tommy said as they entered his room and Kim walked over to the bed.

"I'm not going to with a lot of people and sometimes I might not feel safe with you; but I'll always know that I can trust you, no matter what. Look at everything you've done for me," Kim said as she crawled into bed and rolled over on her side. "Good night, Tommy."

"Night, Beautiful," Tommy whispered as he sat down on the edge of the bed and covered his face. He knew that everything he did from now on was going to be difficult, but if he could find a way to make it right, he wouldn't have to worry about all the other hassles in life. Kim took care of all of his needs and now it was time that he truly returned the favor.


	16. Recovery

"It backfired, didn't it?" Ben asked as he walked into Mesogogg's lair, with a smile on his face. He had known that this would happen, but he had wanted to let Mesogogg make his own mistakes, considering the fact that he was supposed to be the leader. "Now are you ready to try things my way?"

"Your way? Without me you wouldn't even be here. I drove Kim to come here and you, as her business partner have benefitted quite a bit, but it all comes back to me, not you," Mesogogg said as Ben just shook his head in disgust. If he didn't want the business all to himself he would have left a long time ago, but as it was he was getting tired. He knew that hurting Kim really did them no good, but trying to convince Mesogogg of that was insanely optimistic. He was never going to change his mind about how he wanted to do this, unless it was blatantly put in his face that he was wrong.

"I told you not to touch her. It's one thing to turn someone evil, but what you did will make Tommy be the Power Ranger that she was talking about and I don't think that we want to see that. He's far too good to be defeated by you," Ben said as Mesogogg just shook his head. He honestly didn't think Tommy was half of what Kim said he was. She just thought that he was such a good ranger because she was in love with him. Love could make people seem like they were superhuman, when they were merely ordinary. He was superhuman and despite many obstacles had finally drove Kim back to the one man he needed to destroy to have her. "All right, don't believe me on this and I promise that you'll be dead and I'll go on with my life. They don't know anything about my involvement."

"They're not supposed to," Mesogogg said as Ben shook his head. Leave it to him to come up with the obvious answer, not the smart one.

"Yes, but if they don't know about me, they won't come after me when the shit hits the fan and I think it did that about an hour ago," Ben said as Mesogogg's eyes widened in comprehension. Ben would not be a target of Tommy's wrath, while he would receive every lashing that Tommy could give. "Now you understand why you shouldn't have pissed Tommy off. He's gunning for you now and you're lucky he listened to me and didn't kill you right when he found out."

"What's your plan?" Mesogogg asked as he now knew his options were rather limited. He didn't need to go anywhere near the black ranger if he wanted to live for longer than a few days.

"We need to lay low until this has blown over. Tommy won't let his guard down, but I guarantee the rangers will. They're too young, too inexperienced; we have to target them for the time being, then…we go after Tommy…Kim can't take much more, trust me," Ben said as Mesogogg nodded his head. He had heard things like this in the past about Kim, but he had not honestly believed it until now.

"How do you know that she won't begin to suspect you?" Mesogogg asked as Benn just shook his head.

"I'm not stupid enough to advertise what I do. You've done that and you now have to deal with the fact that Kim doesn't trust you. She doesn't, and won't, know what I do after hours. It's just the way that we work," Ben said as Mesogogg gave him a hard look.

"How can you be so sure she, or more specifically Tommy, won't figure it out? Let's face it, they both have been in this game for a long time. They know a lot more than we do about what it takes for evil to conquer it all," Mesogogg said as Ben shrugged his shoulders. It honestly didn't matter to him, he was pretty sure he could talk it off as still being under the influence of evil. He really wanted to go back to a normal life once all of this was over and in order to do that, he had to play nice or as nice as he could while being evil.

"Maybe too long, listen the destruction you want is possible, but you have to compromise in order to make it happen. There are other ways to destroy Kim's life, we both know that. We just have to think it out before we act from now on," Ben said as Mesogogg nodded. He was beginning to see exactly how this plan could work to their advantage. Anything could happen to Kim at the gym and many would blame it on the hazards of the job; the problem was, Tommy would not be one of the many. He knew what Kim could and couldn't do and that was where they were going to have the problem. They had to make it concievable that she had actually made a mistake, doing something she could very well do.

--------------

"Um," Kim murmured as she rolled over in bed and felt around for Tommy. He had been there all night, whether he slept, she didn't know, but now he was gone. That honestly worried her, considering how protective he had been last night. "Tommy…Tommy…crap."

Kim then opened her eyes and felt the nightstand for her glasses, which she quickly put on. She then stumbled out of bed, walked over to the closet, grabbed Tommy's bathrobe, and put it on to keep herself warm as she walked through the house.

"Tommy," Kim said as she began her way down the stairs and could see that the kitchen and living room where empty. "Great."

"Kim, what are you doing up?" Tommy asked as he emerged from the command center and couldn't help but hold in a broad smile. His bathrobe absolutely swallowed her, but it was a little chilly so he understood why she needed it. He had just never imagined her in it before.

"Trying to find you," Kim said as she walked over to him and he placed both of his arms around her, knowing she didn't care how sweaty he was right now.

"Do you want to go back to sleep or eat breakfast?" Tommy asked as Kim shrugged her shoulders. Both options sounded good to her right now and Tommy knew that as long as he was with her, she didn't care. She needed some consistancy in her life and right now that consistancy was Tommy, not anyone else. "Come on, you have to have one that you would rather do."

"I'd rather eat and then go back to sleep," Kim said as Tommy nodded his head and then let her go.

"Do you want to talk?" Tommy asked as Kim merely shook her head no and Tommy nodded his head. He understood it might take a little while for her to be able to, but that was all right. He knew that she'd talk to him when she was able to deal with it all herself.

"I love you," Kim whispered as Tommy looked over at her. For the first time, she seemed ashamed and totally lost. He hadn't known what to expect, but this was more along the lines of how he thought she'd act. Last night, it just hadn't sunk in yet and now it really had. She truly realized everything that had happened and she couldn't push it away anymore.

"Come here," Tommy whispered as Kim took a step towards him and he pulled her into a comforting hug. He then let out a long sigh and began gently rubbing her back, in an attempt to comfort her even more.

"It's not fair. This shouldn't have happened. I have never done anything to make him…" Kim blubbered as Tommy let his own tears silently flow. He had felt her pain before, but right now it was overwhelming him. He didn't know if that was because of the new powers, but he felt a stronger connection to her, one that he liked but couldn't explain.

"I know and you have to let it out," Tommy said as Kim began beating her fists against his chest, out of pure frustration and he had to hold himself together, as he wanted to sob. It killed him that one person could make her feel this worthless, this mistreated, but Mesogogg did and now that left him to try to make things be all right, to try to fix everything that had happened to her and he didn't know if he could do that.

"Damn it Tommy!" Kim yelled as she pushed him away and began pacing in front of him, holding a fistful of hair in each hand. "Damn it!"

"Kim…"Tommy began, rather hesitantly, as she looked over at him with a terrified look on her face. A thought had just occurred to her and she could only pray Tommy would find some way to talk it out to being all right.

"What happens if I'm pregnant, Tommy?" Kim asked as Tommy bit down on his bottom lip and closed his eyes. He had thought of it, but had hoped she would never bring it up. He had hoped that she would not worry about that for another few weeks.

"Whatever you want, I support you either way," Tommy said as Kim shook her head. How could Tommy not have an honest opinion about this? He had an opinion about everything else that had happened to her.

"Please just say something to make me feel better," Kim begged as Tommy reached out and pulled her into him.

"I wish I could," Tommy said as he let out a sob and then felt Kim completely lose all control of her emotions. She had been waiting for Tommy to crack and now that he had, she felt free to lose control. "Shh, I've got you, you're going to be okay."

"I just want it to go away," Kim sobbed as Tommy nodded that he understood. He wished he could make it disappear, but he couldn't. The only person that could was Kim and it was going to take time for her to heal.

"What do you want me to do?" Tommy asked as Kim continued to shake in his arms. He couldn't think of a thing to do to comfort her, but he knew she needed to be comforted, somehow. He just hoped that she could tell him what she desperately needed right now.

"Just take it away," Kim whispered as Tommy closed his eyes and looked away from her. He couldn't do that and although he'd love to switch places, he couldn't. So they were going to have to make do with what they did have: each other.

"I wish I could," Tommy whispered as he gently ran his fingers through her hair. "Kim, it would make all the difference in the world if I could take this pain away."

"It was you I wanted to..." Kim moaned as Tommy picked her up and carried her into the living room, where he settled down in his recliner with her in his lap.

"I know," Tommy whispered as Kim curled up against him and he began rocking back and forth.

"He's taken so much away from me," Kim murmured as Tommy only nodded. He could guess exactly what she was talking about and he hated to know that she felt like this because of one person.

"But I'm still here. He can't take me away; no matter how hard he tries," Tommy said as Kim gave him a weak smile through her tears. She knew he would do anything for her, it was just too bad that Mesogogg hadn't figured that out.

"Thanks," Kim whispered as she closed her eyes and he looked down at her. He honestly didn't mind if she slept, heaven knew that she needed it after the hell of the last few days.

-------------

"Kira," Conner said, tentatively, as he walked up to her at the park. They had decided that they all needed to meet up for some light sparring, especially after the new turn of events. They were going to have to step it up and if that meant practicing and working out more than they ever had before, they would do it. They owed Kim and Tommy that much, especially after them saving their asses so much the last few weeks.

"Hey," Kira said as Conner sat down next to her and put his arm around her. He could tell that the news about Kim was still bothering Kira. It bothered him as well, but nowhere near as much as her.

"You okay?" Conner asked as Kira shook her head no. "Spill it."

"What do we do now? It's one thing to fight a monster; it's another thing to deal with a man who is psychotic. I don't think I can do this Conner," Kira said as Conner just shook his head. He knew it was going to be rough on them, but he never imagined this would happen. No one would imagine something like this, even in their wildest dreams.

"Kira, it's the first time something like this has ever happened. Even Dr. O doesn't know how to act about it and he's been doing this for ten years. We all have to heal," Conner said as Kira merely nodded her head. She wished that she didn't understand, but she did. This one incident had hurt all of them in ways that they couldn't imagine before.

"Yeah, but Dr. O is a professional, we're not," Kira said as Conner couldn't help but laugh. "What's so funny?"

"No one is a professional at this, not even him. Let's face it, this job is one of the most stressful known to man," Conner said as Kira just shook her head. It amazed her that he could just throw all of this together on the spot and he could barely pass some classes.

"Why don't you let people know that you're smart?" Kira asked as Conner looked away from her. He had been much more comfortable talking about the situation that they were in, in the ranger world, than why he acted differently around the people at school.

"Who has ever heard of a smart jock? It's just easier to act like I don't understand lots of things," Conner said as Kira just shook her head. It bothered her that he thought this was the best way to go about things. Why didn't he show who he really was and be the person that she had grown to like all the time?

"Wouldn't they accept you, even if you showed them that you're smart?" Kira asked as Conner looked up at the sky. He honestly doubted that he would be accepted by them at all if he acted like his true self. "They're that picky?"

"I slip up and say something every once in awhile and they just look at me, like I come from another planet. It's better for me to just play soccer and let everything else be," Conner said as Ethan walked up and sat down on the other side of Kira.

"Just ran into one of your friends," Ethan said as Conner looked over at him, hoping that he'd go on. He was not a mind reader, by any stretch of the imagination. "Are you playing a pick up game today?"

"Not anymore. I told Mathew that this morning though. This is a lot more important than a pick up game," Conner said as Ethan nodded. His friends didn't seem to think he was serious when he told them that. They must have thought that nothing would be more important than soccer to him, but his priorities in life had changed, drastically, over the last few weeks. "They think that I was joking, don't they?"

"Basically," Ethan said as Conner shook his head as he saw his group of friends coming up behind Ethan. He didn't want to have this confrontation today; he already had enough on his mind without adding this.

"McKnight, what gives? You ditching us for them?" Matthew asked Kira and Ethan exchanged a glance. Neither of them liked the way this sounded and they were sure that Conner didn't appreiciate it either, but he had been their friends since they were in kindergarten.

"I told you something more important came up," Conner said as he walked over to them and they tossed him the ball, which he naturally bounced off his chest. "Really, I can't today, maybe next weekend."

"Next weekend's the school tournament, we'll be playing all freaking day. There won't be any time for extra soccer and none of us will want to play extra soccer. You should remember what the tournament did to you last year," Phillip said as Conner let out a sigh and he then looked back at Kira and Ethan. They were making it hard for him to say no to soccer, because he did remember what the tournament had done to him. He had had to take a three week break, just to heal from all the injuries that had been caused. "Come on, since when have you hung out with either of them? You told us yourself that you didn't like them."

"I didn't know them then. Things change, so what if I have some new friends who care about something other than soccer? We all have lives outside of soccer," Conner said as Ethan and Kira walked away from their bench. They didn't want to hear anymore; Conner had a big enough hole to dig himself out of already.

"Your life is soccer," Meagan said as Conner looked down at her. They had dated at one time and when she found out about Kira, he'd never hear the end of it, but he honestly didn't care what they thought. He was actually happy now and he had not been happy with her.

"It might have been at one time, but it's not anymore," Conner said as he looked back and saw that Ethan and Kira had left. "Great, now I have to find them."

"Why not just stay and play?" Mathew asked as Conner shook his head no and he walked away from them. As soon as he was out of their eyesight, he was going to contact Ethan and Kira. Now he had to dig himself out of a huge hole.

"School won't be fun for him Monday," Meagan said as Mathew just shook his head. Something had changed about Conner, but he couldn't quite pinpoint what it was.

------------

"Kira, Ethan," Conner said as he ran up to them and he could see the hurt on both their faces, but especially Kira's. "Can I explain before you rip into me?"

"Yeah," Kira said as Conner looked her in the eyes, but had to look away because of what he found there.

"Last year, when we all started school together, I was asked some of the people that I'd never hang out with. Both of you were on that list, but I didn't know you then and now that I do, I see that I was wrong. It's not an excuse for my judgment, but I just wanted to let you know where I was coming from. Okay, do whatever you need to do," Conner said as Kira looked over at Ethan and then walked over and gave Conner a hug, which honestly shocked him. He was sure that she was going to yell at him.

"It takes a lot of guts to say that," Ethan said as Kira nodded her head in agreement.

"So you're not going to yell at me?" Conner asked as Kira just shook her head no. She knew that he had changed a lot in the last few weeks; his friends were just going to have to get used to it.

"What do we need to practice?" Ethan asked as they started walking toward the picnic tables.

"Everything," Kira said as Conner nodded his head in agreement.

"How are we going to do that?" Conner asked as they sat down at the table. Dr. O had been the one with the training program, they just did what he said. Now it had suddenly become confusing. They didn't know when he'd be back and that did worry them a good bit.

"We'll help," Billy said as he and Kat walked up to the table and sat down with them. "Tommy told us you might be doing this today."

"Do you have any questions?" Kat asked as Conner, Ethan, and Kira stared at them, completely shocked. It was odd to see them outside of the Command Center, not covered in filth. They actually looked like normal people, not like rangers.

"How are they doing?" Kira asked as Kat gave her a weak smile. It was obvious that they cared about Tommy and Kim, but they couldn't handle everything that was going on. They were having far too much thrown at them at one time and they didn't know how to deal with it. Even the older rangers were having trouble and they had been exposed to situations that some people would consider worse for years.

"They've been better, but Tommy's hoping Kim will be back to more of herself by the end of the week. He still hasn't decided if he's going to work or not; but don't worry, you'll see him tomorrow, no matter what," Billy said as they nodded. They wished that they would tell them the truth, but that didn't seem like it was going to happen anytime soon.

"Is she staying?" Conner asked as Billy nodded his head yes. Kim really didn't have a choice now that the powers had chosen her.

"You'll find this out about Kim, she's more resilient than you can imagine and she's one of the best fighters you'll ever meet," Billy said as they exchanged glances. Kim's eyesight had played such a huge role that they were sure she couldn't fight. "Kim's eyes won't stop her, didn't she snatch away your sword?"

"Good point," Conner said as Billy smiled. These rangers were going to be good, they just had to trust in themselves first. "But Dr. O doesn't want her to fight."

"Tommy doesn't have a choice. Kim was chosen and he has to live with it like the rest of us," Kat said as the others nodded that they understood.

"Does he do stupid things to protect her?" Ethan asked as Billy and Kat laughed as they nodded their heads yes. That was one thing they could be certain about with Tommy. He'd do stupid crap in order to keep Kim safe, but she would do the same thing if she had to.

"What do you expect out of him? He's one of the best, but when he's with Kim, you'll see another side to his fighting. They tag team and look out for each other. She has his back just as much as he has hers. They've worked together like this for years and it works well for them. You can't say that about many other people in this business," Kat said as Billy gave her a knowing look. Kat had never been able to work with Tommy that well and they all were able to admit now that it was because Tommy couldn't adjust. Working with Kim had spoiled him beyond repair.

"But can they still do what they need to?" Conner asked as Billy nodded his head yes.

"Kim and Tommy are amazingly good at what they do. Don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise," Billy said as Conner's friends ran up and Conner let out a sigh.

"You've got to come see this," Mathew said as Conner gave him a questioning look. He honestly didn't think it would be worth his time.

"What is it?" Conner asked, lazily, as he looked between his friend and the rangers.

"Something just landed in the park, it's kinda weird looking," Meagan said as Billy and Kat stood up and walked away. They knew they need to investigate; they actually had some experience in this area, unlike the others.

"Let's go," Kira said as Meagan and Mathew gave her a questioning look.

"We weren't talking to you," Meagan said as Kira looked over at Conner, who was now fuming. They were not even giving them a fair chance.

"Meagan, cut it out," Conner said as nicely as he could as Meagan just shook her head.

"You like her, don't you?" Meagan asked as Conner looked over at Kira, whose expression was about as neutral as it could get. "Come on, you can tell us."

"Conner, just come find us when this is over," Kira said as she walked away and Conner let out a disgruntled sigh.

"Yeah I do and you shouldn't care who I like. If people don't like it, I guess I'll have to deal with it. I don't see where it affects you," Conner said as he walked towards Kira and Ethan. "I'm going to go check it out, but until you can understand, don't ask me about my relationship. Kira, wait up!"

"Conner, you don't know what you're doing!" Mathew yelled as Conner ran off and he could only shake his head in disgust. Their friend was going down a path few of them dared to take and he didn't like that at all.

"Conner, you've got to…" Kira began as Conner just nodded. He knew what she was going to say. He didn't have to listen to all of it.

"I know and I'm working on it. I can't just give up on them; maybe they'll come around," Conner said as they walked up to Billy and Kat, who were mesmerized. They had not seen something like this in a long time and it worried them.

"Tommy is not going to like this," Kat muttered as Billy picked up the object and he could only shake his head. No one wanted to see this again, they had been warned about what would happen if it did come back.

"Yeah, because it means the end of the Power Rangers, an all encompassing battle and it's going to be up to him and Kim," Billy said as the Dino Thunder Rangers looked at them, completely confused as to what they were talking about. "Shit we need to tell him."

"Not today, Billy. He's got enough on his plate without us adding this right now," Kat said as Billy nodded and turned to see the rangers' reaction.

"Don't tell Tommy, we'll take care of it when the time is right," Billy said as they nodded. They knew that leaving this up to them was the best. They doubted that Dr. O had had a good day and they were hoping he might be at school tomorrow. However, their hopes were somewhat realistic. Dr. O would not be there, he had to take care of Kim, completely.


	17. Speaking the Truth

All day Sunday was spent with Tommy holding and consoling Kim in every way he could imagine. She didn't eat so, therefore, he didn't eat either. He knew that Kim would eventually come back and he knew that he had to be there when she did. If any one else tried to do this, then he would have a problem with it and the others knew that. They knew that he needed this time to prove that he did care about Kim, in all ways. She was no where near as secure as she had been about their relationship, which was on very rocky ground. He knew that at any moment she could decide to call it quits and all he would be able to do was let her go, but he hoped and prayed it would never come down to that.

"Hey honey," Tommy said as Kim's eyes fluttered open and he reached over her for the remote. He doubted that she want to watch NASCAR.

"Leave it on," Kim said as she snuggled against him. He was the only physical contact that she wanted and he had been so good to her today. "You're too good, Tommy."

"I'm not as good as you think," Tommy said as Kim sat up and looked out the window, to see the sun setting.

"I didn't mean to sleep all day, Tommy," Kim said as Tommy smiled over at her and she gave him a small grin.

"You deserved it and I know that you'll do a little more each day," Tommy said as his stomach rumbled and Kim gave him a concerned look. She now realized that he probably hadn't eaten anything all day, since he had been her pillow all day.

"Go fix yourself some food," Kim said as Tommy shook his head that he was fine. "You need your energy, you know he won't lay off long."

"I'm not eating until you do," Tommy said as he knew he was going to have to force Kim to eat sometime and now seemed like the best time to do that. She wanted him to eat, so she might herself in order to make him do so.

"Soup," Kim said as Tommy stood to go fix some soup for the two of them. Kim then switched the station to the news and sat back, thinking that today had been an ordinary day in Reefside. She honestly didn't know if she could take it being an odd day, for once.

"We've had an odd day in Reefside, as an unknown object smashed into the ground at Reefside Park. When investigators arrived on the scene, there was an evident crater, but no object was found that could have possibly caused it. There was also a goldish powder scattered around the hole, which cannot be explained. Now, let's turn it over to Steve with sports," Ashley Crowe said as Kim's mouth dropped open and she stood to go tell Tommy.

"I was about to come back," Tommy said as Kim padded into the kitchen, looking more shocked than she had all day. He hadn't thought that it was humanly possible, but obviously something had happened in the last few hours that had made news. He didn't think it could be anything good, but he hoped that it would be anything that would be considered horrible. "What's wrong?"

"You know how the Power Rangers are supposed to have an all encompassing battle to end it all?" Kim asked as Tommy's eyes widened. He didn't want to hear the next words out of her mouth. He was sure that it would not be good for them if she said what he was thinking was possible.

"Please tell me that nothing crashed into Reefside's landscape today," Tommy said s Kim could only shake her head that she couldn't say that. She couldn't lie to him about this, they had to face the reality of it now, because waiting until later would not help them in the least bit. "Damn it."

"The news doesn't know what it was, someone must have gotten to it first, so we may have a little bit more time to work out some kinks," Kim said as Tommy nodded then passed her a bowl of soup. He could only hope that it was a ranger than found the object, because he was sure that if someone else found it that they wouldn't bring it to him. They probably wouldn't even be able to open it without being knocked out by it.

"I'll focus on it tomorrow. For right now, I think we just need to focus on you," Tommy said as Kim smiled at him and then walked back into the living room.

"Tommy, I don't know how to explain it all to you," Kim said as he placed a box of cheez-its between the two of them.

"There's not much to explain, I just want to know what happened if and when you are ready. If you're never ready, then I'll never know and that's fine. I don't love you any less, I couldn't do that after all these years," Tommy said as Kim closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. God, what had she done to be this lucky? What had she done so right that she was able to get Tommy? No one else would be like him and she knew that all too well. She had tried to be with other men and she just couldn't, she always felt that she was being pulled back to him.

"Please tell me that I'm not dreaming," Kim said as Tommy gave her a kiss on the cheek and she continued to eat her soup.

"You're not," Tommy said as his phone rang and he stood to go get it. "Hello."

"Tommy, did you see the news?" Jason asked as Tommy looked over at Kim. So much for him being able to concentrate on getting her well, it seemed that the other rangers wanted to discuss things with him right now.

"Yeah, I did and yes I know what it means, but I really don't want to have to deal with it right now," Tommy said, rather annoyed, as Kim passed him his soup and a handful of crackers, knowing this was going to be a long phone call. Jason would never let him out of talking about something important, unless Tommy gave him a very good reason.

"Does Kim?" Jason asked as Tommy looked at the ground. Kim knew there was going to be an all encompassing battle; she didn't know that it would just be her and Tommy fighting in it. She had never been told many of the things that he had learned over the last several years.

"To a point, there's no need to explain it all now. Just give it a few days, it's not like we fight the battle next week," Tommy said as Jason just shook his head. They never knew when it might be, but he also agreed that it was going to be a little while. There hadn't even been an evil that specifically challenged the two of them yet and that was what they were now waiting for.

"Yeah, you fight the battle, not us," Jason said as Tommy let out a sigh. It kinda hurt him to know that he had to fight when so many others didn't. He was going to go down in history, along with Kim, but no one would ever know who truly ended the need for Power Rangers, that was one of the curses of being a ranger, all the work and none of the glory. He honestly didn't want glory, he actually just wanted some recogintion, but they would never have that. They would always have to live in the shadows of what they once were.

"Don't remind me," Tommy said as he ate a spoonful of soup. He honestly would give this to any of them, if they could take it off his chest, but they couldn't. They were destined to have to accomplish this task. "It could have been any of us."

"No, we knew it'd be you; you just never knew it. Zordon didn't think that you needed the added pressure back then," Jason said as Tommy's mouth dropped open. Did everyone but him know about it?

"Does Kim know that?" Tommy asked as Kim looked over at him and he just shook his head that it was nothing important.

"No, because she's the other person, it'll all make sense once you see what actually hit Earth," Jason said as Tommy gave the phone a confused look. What was going on that he didn't know about?

"Jason, there's more going on than I know about, isn't there?" Tommy asked as Jason looked over at Trini. This was a question that he did not want to answer, because of what Tommy would do. He knew that if he even attempted to answer it, Tommy would dig and he would find out the truth and it was a truth that none of them were really proud of.

"Yeah, there is a lot more going on. Just trust me when I say that you'll find it all out when it's time," Jason said as Tommy glared at the phone, if he hadn't had more to ask; he would have just hung up. It certainly would have made him feel better to do so.

"So who found it?" Tommy asked as he was now sure it was one of the other rangers, otherwise the media would be having a hay day about the mysterious box that no one could open.

"Billy and your rangers. It's in good hands, so don't worry about it Tommy," Jason said as Tommy could only shake his head. How could they tell him not to worry when he had a much bigger fate on his shoulders than he had ever thought possible.

"Have they opened it?" Tommy asked as Jason looked back at Trini. He knew that Billy had, but he didn't want to tell Tommy the results over the phone. It might push him to a place that he didn't want to be.

"No, we'll do that when we can all get together. Go on back to Kim," Jason said as Tommy looked back at her and had to hide his smile. She had now curled up in his sweatshirt and was lightly snoring.

"She's sleeping, Jason, so I think I'll just stay on the phone," Tommy said as Jason looked over at Trini. He hadn't expected to have to listen to Tommy any longer than he wanted.e He had thought that Tommy would be glad to leave to go back to her as soon as he told him to.

"Look, I need to go, to be honest. We've got something to figure out," Jason said as Tommy just shook his head. His friend was just a tad bit on the crazy side for thinking that Tommy couldn't see through that pack of crap.

"All right, you and Trini have a good night." Tommy said as Jason looked over at Trini. How had Tommy known that she was there?

"You too," Jason said as he hung up the phone and Tommy laughed. His friends had never picked up on the fact that he had a sixth sense about them, but it had come from years of being their leader. He knew them better then he knew himself some times and that was scary to admit.

"I'm not sleeping, Tommy," Kim whispered as he looked over at her and he then sat down next to her.

"You sure looked like it," Tommy said as Kim let out a long yawn and then put her head in his lap. She was tired, she just didn't want to admit it to Tommy. It didn't seem like it would do her any good. "You sure you want to stay here?"

"Yes it's too much of a hassle to go upstairs," Kim said as Tommy nodded and placed his arms around. "He wasn't always like this."

"Who?" Tommy asked as Kim had just jumped to that for no reason.

"Mesogogg, he was actually nice at one time, then he changed. I can't believe that I used to train with him and now…" Kim trailed off as Tommy looked down at her with concern filled eyes. He didn't know if these thoughts would do her any good, but at lesast she was talking.

"People change," Tommy said, simply, as Kim just shook her head. That was not something that she wanted to hear. People didn't change like this, they didn't suddenly decide to become evil and try to take over the entire world and that was what Mesogogg was now trying to do, besides get back at her.

"People don't change like this Tommy. It was like he found out about you and went crazy. I never wanted to be away from any of you, but I had to do this to protect you. Now you're protecting me again and I don't deserve it. My protection was not nearly as good as it needed to be, look at how many times you got attacked. I let way too much happen and that's how he got an edge, that's how he made me evil and then…" Kim trailed off as Tommy merely nodded. This was the closest that she had gotten to telling him the situation, but he knew that to force her was no good.

"Kim," Tommy said as she looked up at him and saw the need his eyes. It wasn't a need that made her worry, it made her understand something even more. She was never going to be able to live with herself until she told Tommy everything, until she saw that need fade away from his eyes.

"You need to know, but be patient, I can't explain it all at once," Kim said as Tommy merely nodded his head. He couldn't disagree with her because it was the truth. He wanted to know exactly what he was making this bastard pay for when he was able to go after him in a few months.

"Okay," Tommy muttered as Kim took in a shaky breath. It was hard to talk about it, even to him, but she had to, for herself and for him.

"I'll be honest, it's kinda hazy, the evil covered a good bit of how he got me up there how a lot of things happened. The first thing I remember is that I was laying there and he was human again. He looked different, but I still knew who he was. He bound me down with these straps; he must have known that even my evil self would fight back. That was when he stripped naked," Kim said as she took in another shaky breath and Tommy placed his arms around her and she leaned against him. "He didn't do anything at first, he just stared, then he began…he began…he took off my clothes. I started struggling then, but I still didn't realize it all, my brain wouldn't let me. After that…the scars…he touched. He said he was proud of his work…that he'd be even more proud after that was over. That's when he started and when he..when he…he..., my mind snapped back. I knew what was happening, what he was doing, but I couldn't stop him, I was already strapped down. It hurt so bad and he didn't care, he did that to me and then left. He left me there strapped to a table, freezing, and unclothed. He didn't come back, but Ben did and Ben helped me make the plan to get out there. He saved me from another night of hell."

"Ah, Kim," Tommy said as he rocked her back and forth, as she sobbed against him. As much as he needed that, she needed it more; she needed to get it out of her system, so that she could begin to try to pick up the pieces of her broken life. "I tried to keep you safe, but I couldn't."

"Tommy, an evil ranger hurts people they never thought they'd hurt," Kim said as Tommy looked away. All the times he had been evil and he still forgot that fact or maybe more accurately blocked out that fact. He didn't want to face the truth and neither did Kim, but they had to do just that.

"Yeah, but you got hurt this time and you were evil. You didn't really hurt anyone else," Tommy said as Kim looked away. Why did Tommy have to point that out? "Kim, there's something you need to understand about these gems. First we haven't found all of them, there's a pink one out there somewhere and secondly I knew the white gem had the capability of becoming evil more easily than the other gems, it was that way when Mercer and I did the scans. He was killed on that island and I thought the white gem to be destroyed, I actually prayed that it was because I didn't want any credit in creating an evil ranger if it somehow got into the wrong hands and took that sort of property, I had been one, I knew the guilt that it made you have. Now I've created what I once was and I'm sorry you had to go through it."

"Tommy, you didn't know this would happen when I became evil, just be glad that I didn't take as long as you did to come back," Kim said as Tommy nodded his head in agreement. If she had stayed evil much longer, it would have made the consequences much worse when she finally came back to herself. "I don't know if I'll ever be the same."

"You might get back there," Tommy said, slowly, as Kim felt him pick her up and placed her in his lap. She had never truly appreciated how safe his arms made her feel, but now she felt lost without them. He was the one that was pulling her back, she wasn't doing it herself. They needed each other, more now than ever before.

"Tommy can we go to sleep?" Kim asked as she looked into his eyes and he nodded his head yes. He was going to have to take his lesson plans to the school early in the morning and he needed to be rested for that.

"You want me to camp out on the floor?" Tommy asked as he had seen that physical contact was not always wanted by victims.

"No," Kim said, simply, as he picked her up and carried her upstairs. "I know that Mesogogg would have to perform some sort of miracle to get me away from you."

"Yeah, he would," Tommy said as Kim nodded off in his arms and he gave her a smile as he laid her in bed. She was so fragile right now and everything he did counted. He had to watch himself at all times because if he did something that she didn't like, they would both pay for it dearly.


	18. A Day of Peace

"Dr. Oliver, it's good to see you," Principal Randall said as Tommy walked into the front office, dressed in sweatpants and an undershirt. She was not exactly sure how to take this look from him, as he always came in in something that covered his arms and now she understood why, his female students probably wouldn't be able to concentrate. Hell, she was barely able to concentrate. "Did you forget your clothes?"

"No I'm taking a couple of days of leave, I just had to bring in my lesson plans," Tommy said as Principal Randall nodded. She had never seen him quite like this and she had to admit that she liked it. Any woman would if they just looked at him for a couple of seconds.

"Still recovering from your hospital visit?" Principal Randall asked as Tommy nodded his head yes. It was a lie, but she didn't need to know his real reason for staying home. He didn't want to deal with that type of questioning today. "Well, just let me know if you need anything."

"Okay," Tommy said as he walked back out of the office and headed towards his classroom. Some of the students were giving him odd looks as he walked past but he didn't seem to notice or care. He had seen these looks before and he had become accustomed to it.

"Dr. O?" Kira asked as he walked by here and he stopped and turned to acknowledge her. "I thought…"

"I'm going right back home, just had to drop off these. Practice is at 4:30 this afternoon, tell the others for me," Tommy said as Kira nodded and he turned to leave.

"Tommy," Austin Merchant said as he walked up to his fellow science teacher. He was a little bit shocked to see him dressed the way that he was, but if he thought that he could teach in that, more powere to him. "You're not teaching today, right?"

"Not for the next couple of days, I'm still not up to it," Tommy said as Austin nodded. He knew that Tommy's hospital stay had not been pleasant, so he could understand needing a couple of more days to work it all out.

"Look, we got a new teacher a couple of days ago, watch out for her," Austin warned as Tommy gave him a confused look. What would warrant that sort of warning?

"That bad?" Tommy asked as Austin looked around, making sure that no one heard him.

"You're her type," Austin said as Tommy laughed. He honestly didn't care if he was her type, there was only one person that was his type. "You have a girlfriend?"

"Yeah, for the last few weeks," Tommy said as Austin gave him a confused look. He had thought he would have picked up on this sort of change from Tommy. His co-worker had never been a good person to hide his feelings and he thought he would know this sort of thing.

"Who is she?" Austin asked as Tommy had been hit on by every eligible teacher here and that was something he found comedic. Tommy didn't want that attention, but he got if for some odd reason.

"She owns the gymnastics center downtown. You'll meet her sometime," Tommy said as Austin nodded as Tommy unlocked his room and looked around, it hadn't been completely destroyed during his unexpected absence, which surprised him.

"Get better and get back, we all need some sanity in this hall," Austin said as Tommy nodded that he would. Right now he was taking it one day at a time with Kim and if things got better sooner, he'd be back before the end of the week. If they didn't he had to keep up his obligation to Kim, no matter what it did to his job here.

------------

"Good morning," Tommy said as Kim rolled over in his bed and looked at him. She hadn't woken up while he was at school and that made him happy; he didn't have to worry about her freaking out. She had not let go of him the entire night and when he had woken up, he had had to carefully remove himself in order to make sure she didn't wake up.

"Morning," Kim whispered as she rolled back over, perfectly content to go back to sleep. "Tommy, I'm tired, let me sleep."

"Okay," Tommy muttered as he crawled into bed as well and she snuggled up against him, hoping that he would keep her warm.

Tommy, however, was not about to sleep, as he lay there thinking. The things Kim had told him where now fully sinking in and he knew what he would be doing very soon. Every time he had been faced with a ranger challenge it all came down to one thing, what would Zordon tell him to do in this situation? He honestly believed that Zordon would tell him to kill Mesogogg and he was going to, even if he had to do it after their all encompassing battle. He knew that his line of compassion had been crossed and there was only so much he could take.

"Why aren't you sleeping?" Kim asked as Tommy looked over at her and shrugged his shoulders. He honestly was fine watching her sleep, he had a lot to think about. "Tommy, you stayed up most of the night, you need to get some sleep."

"I have too much to think about," Tommy said as Kim yawned then sat up. She couldn't help but be frustrated with him. "Kim, you can sleep."

"It bothers me to know that you're awake," Kim said as she herd Tommy sigh as he sat up as well. He didn't know what to do, as Kim seemed better this morning, but she was with him and that made a huge difference.

"What do you want to do today?" Tommy asked as Kim shrugged her shoulders and Tommy took a moment to think. Did he want to leave the house or stay? He knew that she needed some exposure to others, but today might be too soon.

"I want you to choose," Kim said as Tommy looked over at his closet and saw a pair of his swimming trunks sticking out, but he then remembered her scars and thought better of it. He knew she wouldn't want to go with those still being visible.

"I want to get out, but I don't know where we can go," Tommy said as Kim thought for a few seconds.

"Does your uncle still own that cabin?" Kim asked as Tommy nodded his head yes and then walked over to the phone. Hopefully his uncle would let him use it on such short notice. Kim then began walking around, throwing things in a bag for him. Tommy had never minded when she would pack for him in the past and she doubted that had changed.

"We'll have to wait until tonight, I promised the rangers I'd at least meet with them," Tommy said as he hung up. His uncle's cabin was empty and since Tommy would leave it clean, his uncle didn't worry about letting him stay.

"That's fine, why don't we go by my place and get my stuff?" Kim suggested as Tommy nodded his head that they could do that. It would certainly waste sometime and they had plenty of that today.

-------------

"Kim! You're alive!" Abby yelled as Kim walked into the gym and she mowed her over. She had never thought that she would get this sort of welcome back to the gym.

"Yeah," Kim said as Tommy kept the two of them from falling to the ground.

"You still don't look so hot," Abby said as she took a good look at Kim. She didn't seem like her normal boss at all. She seemed tired and weak and those were two words that never described Kimberly Hart.

"That's why I'm not here to work," Kim said as she walked towards her office and saw Ben exiting his. "Hey, Ben."

"Kim! How are you doing?" Ben asked as he gave her a hug and Tommy eyed him, warily. Something about Kim's story made him suspicious of Ben, why would Ben come out of the spell when something was done to Kim? Jason certainly hadn't done that on Murianthius, when he had nearly killed Tommy and Jason was a ranger, Ben wasn't. He had never had any experience in this area before.

"I've been better," Kim said as Ben nodded. He honestly would have been worried if she had said anything else. "I'll be right back down, just hang out down here."

"Okay," Tommy said as Kim walked away and he looked over at Ben. "How have you been?"

"Busy, with Kim gone it's a lot of work to do," Ben said as Tommy nodded. Ben could feel Tommy sizing him up, trying to figure out what he really knew, but he'd throw him off his trail, no matter what it took. "You wouldn't really be interested in opening a dojo, would you?"

"One day, but I'm too busy now that all this crap has happened," Tommy said as Abby gave him a confused look.

"You've been staying with her?" Abby asked as Tommy nodded his head yes. "So you know how she's really feeling?"

"I think like shit works the best," Tommy said as Abby's eyes widened. Kim wouldn't admit it, but it was nice to know that he would. "Sorry if I offended you with that."

"No, it's just that Kim never lets us know how she really feels about anything. She keeps it to herself if she can, that can't be healthy," Jennifer said as Tommy nodded. Kim had been like that with him at one time, but it had long passed. She now knew that they could trust each other, even when things weren't so great.

"I've known her a little bit longer," Tommy said as they nodded. It did make sense to them that she'd trust him over them, especially considering some things. "She'll come around."

"I don't think so, she still hides things from Ben," Abby said as Tommy smiled. He could think of a few reason why that made sense and he'd love to rub it in.

"I've known her longer than Ben," Tommy said as they gave him a confused look. They didn't really understand how he could know her that long. "I met her my freshman year of high school."

"You're kidding," Jennifer said as Tommy shook his head no. He knew that Kim would admit if she was given the chance. That would also mean explaining why they had broken up, so he hoped to save her from that interrogation. "Wow, I haven't kept up with my high school friends, it's odd to hear of someone that did."

"We didn't talk for a long time," Tommy said as they gave him a confused look. "You don't want to know the story."

"We don't?" Abby asked as Tommy shook his head no and Kim walked back out with a bag in tow. "I'm confused."

"Don't be," Tommy said as he took Kim's bag and she looked back at them.

"I'm not going to be back for the rest of the week, so watch out for the place and tell Ben to keep it running," Kim said as they nodded their heads. They knew how important this place was to Kim, no matter what anyone else thought right now. Whatever was going on in her life must be much more important for her to be gone so much, but they knew better than to snoop this time. She had put up her walls and was not going to let anyone break them down.

"Okay," Jennifer said as Tommy and Kim turned to walk out, knowing that they would be talked about for the next week, at the very least.

-------------

"No more! No more work!" Kira moaned as she sat down in the front seat of Conner's car and he looked over at her, rather amused. He had to admit that he felt like he had just had his last class pounded into his brain, but that was all right. It would somehow sink in overnight

"It's okay, we just have to deal with Dr. O's practice; then we'll be free for the day," Conner said as Ethan hopped in the back and Conner cranked up the car.

"Deal with, hell we almost asked for it," Kira said as Ethan nodded his head in agreement. They had asked him to help them and they knew that would probably mean some very sore muscles, at the very least. The fact was that they truly needed the practice, because they had found out the hard way that they were by no means expert fighters and they needed to practice with one.

"Well, it's not like we don't need the practice. Both of them are going to be out of the fight for awhile," Conner said as they nodded their heads in agreement. There was no way Tommy and Kim were going back right away, there was too much emotional damage left behind. They didn't want to lose their temper in the midst of the battle and have the younger rangers pay for it. That was by no means fair to them.

"I still don't know how they do it," Kira said as Conner nodded his head that he understood. He couldn't be in Dr. O's shoes or he would have killed the man already. It was far too much to deal with and how they were dealing with this on top of everything else that had happened was a miracle. He didn't know how they had the resilience to keep on going with everything that they faced.

"I'll never fully understand them, I think the only ones that come close are their fellow rangers," Ethan said as Conner shook his head.

"We're their fellow rangers now. We've got to learn to understand them or we're not going to be able to fight alongside them as well as we could," Conner said as Ethan just gave him a perturbed look. Conner could be so dense at times, but that was what made it all worthwhile.

"The rangers that they started with, Jason, Trini, Zack…all of them, they know them the best. They know what they do and don't need. We're too inexperienced to even be able to figure out if they need help when we are on the battlefield, much less what they need in their life outside the ranger realm," Ethan said as they pulled up to Dr. O's house and saw him standing outside. They still weren't going to get to see Kim, even though it would make them feel so much better. They, however, knew that if Dr. O was keeping them away, that there was a very good reason for it.

"Hey guys," Tommy said, in an almost depressed tone, as they got out of the car. They had never seen him be this solemn about anything before. "Look, we're not going to really practice today. I just wanted to talk to you, I know that you need that after the last week."

"Dr. O, are you all right?" Kira asked as Tommy nodded his head yes. He had certainly been better, but he could bring himself to classify this as all right, especially by ranger standards. "What about Kim?"

"She's better than she was yesterday," Tommy said as they nodded. They knew Dr. O didn't want to talk about it anymore to them. They might be their fellow rangers, but they were still much younger than them and he didn't want for them to be exposed to all of this. He knew that it was much more than they needed to comprehend. They just needed to focus on Mesogogg and he would take care of all the other mess that came up. He had always been good at handling damage control.

"What do you really need to say, Dr. O?" Conner asked as Tommy gave him a grateful look. He honestly realized that he did not have much patience or willpower left in him and they needed to get this done as quickly as possible.

"Your skills have grown in leaps and bounds from the beginning and I know you want to get even better but you don't have the luxury of the time that you thought you had. They haven't revealed what the package holds for me and Kim, but it holds nothing for the three of you. You're just rangers, so from here on out, remember why we push you because you'll never be in our shoes and believe me you want it to be that way," Tommy said as they nodded. They weren't exactly sure what all of this meant for them, but they were sure it meant a hell of a lot to Tommy and Kim.

"When are you coming back?" Kira asked as Tommy looked down at the ground. He wanted to be completely honest with them and they were going to hate him for it.

"I don't know if I am. I've been offered a job in Angel Grove and it's pretty hard to turn it down," Tommy said as they could only stare at him. "It's a now or never type deal, Principal Randall knows that I put in for the job and that I was probably going to get it. That's why the substitute you have had is a qualified teacher, she might be my replacement. I just don't know how I'm going to break it to Kim."

"Dr. O, just tell us when you come back," Conner said as Tommy nodded. They all knew he wouldn't take the job because of Kim. She couldn't stand to be that far away and they all knew it.

"Go on home and I'll call you sometime this week, you'll need the rest," Tommy said as he turned to go back inside.

"Have a good week, Dr. O," Kira called to his back as Tommy merely nodded his head in acknowledgement.

"That was quick," Kim said as Tommy walked into the bedroom and sat down on the edge of the bed next to her.

"I want to get to the cabin before sunset. It's a nice place, but we don't want to be out if we can help it," Tommy said as Kim nodded her head in agreement. That would be just the kind of place that Mesogogg would hide out, for absolutely no reason other than to scare the living shit out of them.

"Yeah, I understand," Kim said as she picked up her bag. It was amazing that they were going back there now, at Tommy had found solace there in a time of trouble and hopefully Kim would be able to do the same. "Tommy, promise me something."

"Anything," Tommy said as they walked downstairs and through the front door.

"Don't change," Kim said, simply, as Tommy nodded his head, as he put her bag in the back of his jeep.

"Get some sleep on the way down, it's a couple of hours from here," Tommy said as Kim had been fighting off sleep the entire afternoon and he wanted her to get all the rest that she truly needed.

"You don't want company?" Kim asked as Tommy looked over at her, with her drooping eyelids.

"I want you to get better and you need some more rest than normal after all that hell you went through," Tommy said as Kim gave him a weak smile. She did want to sleep so bad, but she wanted to stay awake for him, since she really did appreciate all of this.

"Thank you," Kim said as Tommy just nodded his head as she closed her eyes and drifted off into dreamland.


	19. Calming

"Wake up," Tommy said as he gently shook Kim's shoulder and her eyes fluttered open. She still looked like she was reliving a lot of what had happened in her mind, but her eyes did calm on him and he knew that no one else held that power. He didn't know why he was the one person that could calm her, but he could always manage it.

"We're here," Kim said as Tommy merely nodded his head yes and Kim looked over at the cabin. The solitude of this place had always comforted her and now, when she needed it more than ever, it came back to her. "I've missed this."

"My uncle's missed people coming up here, too. He was so glad for the call," Tommy said as Kim rolled out of the car, as Tommy got their bags and headed for the door. "You know that we'll have to bunk down on that pull out couch."

"That's fine, as long as you can be there, I don't care a bit," Kim said as Tommy opened the door and took in a deep breath, something about the smell just calmed him. He knew that it was not that way for everyone, but it certainly was for him. He had come here to get over Kimberly and although he had never gotten over her, he had certainly healed more here than he had with the others around. "I'm glad this hasn't changed."

"My uncle wants to change it, but he's too busy and I'm kinda glad. It would bother me if he came in and changed everything that I love about this place," Tommy said as Kim walked in and sat down at the rough table.

"It's been so long since I came up here, you losing your powers was no fun to deal with," Kim said as Tommy merely nodded. He had hated the helplessness that it made him feel, but he knew that Kim was feeling much more than that now. It frustrated him that they always seemed to come here during bad times, but it was the one place that they could get away from everyone and leave their responsibilities behind.

"Well, the aloneness helps, it lets you think things out," Tommy said as Kim nodded. The problem was that she didn't want to think this out, she wanted to stomp it permanently from her memory, if that was at all possible. She wished that she could just wake up one morning and none of this had happened, that it would all be a dream.

"I don't want to think it out, Tommy," Kim said as Tommy placed his hands on her shoulders and began trying to knead out all the stress that had built up in them. He then heard the strangled sobs, as Kim tried to hold it all together for just a little while longer.

"You have to let it out," Tommy said as Kim gave him a helpless look and then threw her arms around him.

"I'm not ready to face the others, Tommy," Kim whispered, as he just nodded his head that he understood. "I don't want for them to think badly of me."

"God Kim, they're not going to. I know that you mean a lot to them and you couldn't have stopped this," Tommy said as he rubbed her back to try to ease the pain she was feeling. He knew he couldn't take it away, but he could try to make it just a little bit better.

"Don't say that Tommy, everything has changed," Kim moaned as Tommy just shook his head.

"Then why am I still here?" Tommy asked as Kim looked up at him. "I'm not going to give up on you because of something that asshole did. You mean more to me than that."

"Tommy," Kim said, simply, as he kissed her forehead and pulled her in tight. He knew that each day would get better, but it was going to be baby steps at first.

"Hey, don't try if it makes you feel worse," Tommy said as Kim merely nodded her head that she understood. Tommy was the person that knew her inside and out in ways that she was extremely grateful for. All of it was pushing her to a place she hated to be, but Tommy was pulling her back. He wouldn't let her self destruct like everyone else would. He knew that he couldn't let that happen or he would never get her back, especially not after the last few months.

"Why did I ever break up with you?" Kim asked as Tommy smiled over at her. He had often thought about the question, but had never been able to come up with a good answer.

"You needed something else, something that I couldn't give you at the time," Tommy said as Kim just shook her head. It made a lot more sense now than it had made back then.

"Tommy, you'd have given me whatever I wanted, I don't know why I did it. It makes no sense now," Kim said as Tommy picked her up and walked out onto the porch.

"We don't need for it to make sense, we just need each other, so we can get through this," Tommy said as Kim looked out at the lake.

"I still wonder why it took me so long to heal," Kim said as Tommy looked down at the ground. Billy had explained it to him a few weeks ago, but he knew it would be an easy thing to describe to Kim. She really was in no condition to be rational.

"The powers interfered, you're old ones were being tested when you were out of the game for so long. You just didn't have the reserves that you used to have to be able to deal with it and it finally made you human. You just couldn't bounce back," Tommy said as Kim let out a long sigh.

"I guess all that hopping around the world finally had an effect on me," Kim said as Tommy smiled up at her.

"I still don't know why you protected me for so long. I could have taken on some of that and I wouldn't have thought any thing of it. It is like I have a sign hanging around outside that points out that I'm a ranger," Tommy said as Kim stood up and pulled off her shirt and shorts before looking back at Tommy.

"Because you would have done the same thing, even if it had nearly killed you," Kim said as she walked out to the lake and jumped in, with Tommy only a few feet behind her.

"You know the neighbors will think that we're crazy," Tommy said as he swam over to her and lazily pulled her to him.

"At least we're both wearing colored underwear," Kim said as Tommy laughed. He knew exactly what the neighbors would think it either of them had been wearing white.

"I only hope Mesogogg will leave us alone," Tommy muttered as Kim nodded. She didn't want to have to fight him any time soon with the memories that she had running through her head.

"Let's not talk about that. I don't want to deal with it today," Kim said as she floated on her back trying to fully relax her body.

"What do you want to talk about then?" Tommy asked as he watched her carefully. She was actually acting pretty content right now, but he was not sure how long it would last before she freaked out again. He knew that there was still a lot more hurt left to be uncovered.

"The future, what we'll do after we're done being rangers, because this isn't going to last forever," Kim said as Tommy looked over at her. Why had she brought this subject up to him now, when he was honestly not prepared for it at all? He would have been prepared for something like this when they were completely done being rangers.

"What do you want?" Tommy asked as Kim rolled over and swam to where she could touch.

"You," Kim said, simply, as Tommy gathered her in a strong hug and walked back out into deeper water.

"That makes it pretty simple," Tommy whispered as he kissed her cheeks and then looked her in the eyes for permission to truly kiss her again. He knew it might be far too soon to hope that she would want that sort of contact, but she merely nodded her head and he gave her a short kiss. "Thank you."

"You make me comfortable Tommy, I don't worry about what you might do to me. I know that you'll love me when no one else will," Kim said as they heard the distant rumble of thunder. The sky did look fairly ominous and both of them thought it wise to get out of the lake and back inside.

"What do you think about going to Angel Grove tomorrow?" Tommy asked as it began to rain as they walked back towards the cabin.

"How about we just stay here? I'm not ready to face them," Kim said, desperate that Tommy would not push her and he merely nodded. He knew it was best for the two of them to just be together if she felt this way.

"Yeah, but they want to know that you're all right," Tommy said as Kim nodded. She knew that her friends cared, but if they were to touch her, she'd tense. Tommy was the only one that wouldn't happen with.

"I'm not, yet. It's going to take me awhile to get back to them, you know that," Kim said as a loud crash of thunder sounded outside and she jumped from the shock it sent through her.

"You still don't like it," Tommy said as Kim nodded her head yes and then walked over to get a towel from her bag.

"It reminds me of what it sounded like when Rita wanted her monsters to grow. After so many years of that, it kinda makes you jumpy," Kim said as Tommy nodded. Every once in awhile he had the same problem, but he had honestly gotten used to it, as he had been around far too many monsters to worry about whatever might bring them back.

"Yeah, but Rita was a long time ago Kim," Tommy pointed out as Kim just shook her head. He didn't need to make fun of her for it, although he did have a point.

"I didn't like thunder before then and that just made it worse," Kim said as Tommy nodded his head. He understood now that could be the truth, especially with the current circumstances. There was so much going on right now and they couldn't afford for it to get worse.

"Hopefully he'll use something else to make a twenty story monster," Tommy said as Kim nodded her head in agreement. It was kinda boring to see the same thing over and over with the evil beings trying to conquer earth. Didn't they think that the rangers would find some sort of pattern in it?

"Not that smart," Kim said as Tommy nodded his agreement. He had seen that fact of Mesogogg when he decided that attacking Kim was going to be helpful to his mission.

"Yeah," Tommy agreed as he walked over to the fridge to see what his uncle had stocked in there, besides the normal beer and eggs. "What would you like for supper?"

"How about I cook for you," Kim said as Tommy gave her a skeptical look. Kim had been an all right cook, but she had never been excellent at it and she had certainly never offered to cook for him when he offered.

"Okay," Tommy agreed as Kim pushed him out of the kitchen, knowing that he would enjoy it more if it was kinda made to be a surprise.

"An hour and you'll have food," Kim promised as Tommy just nodded his head and walked out of the kitchen and back into the main room.

------------------

"Tommy's suspicious," Ben said as Mesogogg paced around his lair. He had thought it would only be a matter of time before Tommy was that way, but Ben had been so sure he'd be able to throw Tommy off, if it ever did happen. Tommy had this thing about trusting people and everything he had done depended on that mere fact. He had been nice when he shouldn't have been nice, but it was to make things smoother for them. Now Tommy was suspicious and there was nothing he could do to change that.

"Tommy knows that things aren't right, he is smarter than I ever thought he would be," Mesogogg said as Ben nodded. He had honestly expected for the professor to be a little nutty, but Tommy wasn't like that, most of the time. It took something major to shake him into not noticing the details that had become major things in his life. He was a ranger; he had learned to notice everything that was around him.

"He's a ranger, we should have remembered that, everyone else that has ever battled them certainly remembered him. There are people that didn't come to fight the rangers just because of him," Ben said as he shook his head. He wanted out before things got worse than they were already. He wanted the normal life that he had been promised.

"But do we keep to the plan?" Mesogogg asked as Ben shrugged his shoulders. He certainly thought it wise to stay away from Tommy, but with the way things looked, attacking Tommy might be the only true way to get what they wanted. They had to get the problem out of the way and he was that problem for them, as he had been for so many other evils.

"I say we do for now. Let's just see what they have in the younger rangers. We may be able to still get through to them easily," Ben said as Mesogogg nodded. His cohort certainly was helpful, but he didn't trust him, not in the least. He knew Ben could decide to leave ant anytime and if he left, he would not longer have any help.

"Good, we agree. Now what do we have for those younger rangers?" Mesogogg asked as Ben shrugged his shoulders. Hopefully they would be able to come up with something to truly keep them busy, everything they had given them so far had been a breeze. They knew that they were not that highly trained, but Tommy had been the one to instill the extra powers and he knew what they would need better than anyone else.

"Zeltrax," Ben said as Mesogogg gave him a confused look. How in the world could they have Zeltrax do something when they didn't have any use for him before? He had certainly not seen himself getting this desperate before. "An evil cohort that can fight is exactly what you need."

"You could fight," Mesogogg said as Ben shook his head no. It was impossible for him to fight and keep on being a spy. They would have to reveal that he had turned against them and that was something that he was sure that Mesogogg did not want to risk just yet.

"We need me more as a spy. Kim doesn't trust you, but she trusts me with her life," Ben said as Mesogogg leered. That made him very happy, they would be able to use him, somehow.

"And that's what I plan to take," Mesogogg said as Ben just nodded. He didn't want Kim to die, but in order to save himself he had to pretend to agree with Mesogogg. He knew that Kim and Tommy were very likely to come out on top, no matter what Mesogogg thought. He was almost certain that good would win.

----------------

"Tommy, supper," Kim said as she walked into the main room and he stood up from the couch.

"It smells good," Tommy said as he gave her a hug and she settled back against him. "What'd you fix?"

"Breakfast for supper," Kim said with a smile as Tommy walked over to the food and then looked back at her. Neither of them had ever been great cooks, but they were much better than they used to be. They had had to become cooks in order to not go broke every time that they got a paycheck. "When do you think that they'll tell us the truth?"

"About what?" Tommy asked as he began fixing himself a plate.

"The box and what it contains for us," Kim said as Tommy merely nodded. He was afraid that if he opened his mouth he would betray the truth. "You know much more than you are letting on. Why don't you just tell me? You can't really upset me much more than I am already."

"They knew, years ago, that it would come down to you and me fighting in this battle. Zordon told them about it, but didn't want to add any pressure to us, so he kept it a secret. He wanted us to be able to live a normal life," Tommy said as Kim sat down at the table and just shook her head. She had hoped that Tommy would just make up some sort of excuse, or would just tell her about the mission, nothing else.

"That's great, so they knew we'd probably get back together," Kim said as Tommy nodded his head yes. He had been able to obtain that much from what they had said yesterday. He had often wondered why they never set them up, but it had suddenly made a lot more sense. "No wonder they never pushed us."

"They didn't push you; they pushed me to go talk to you, for closure at the very least," Tommy said as Kim nodded. She had hurt him so much, much more than she realized at first. Now she knew exactly what she had done to him all those years ago.

"All you would have gotten was frustration," Kim said as Tommy nodded. He now understood what she meant by it, she wasn't ready to deal with it back then, but she was now.

"Yeah, because you would have been just as confused as you were a few weeks ago about what you truly wanted," Tommy said a Kim glared over at him.

"I was not confused, you were. You wanted me to wait so that you could figure out what you wanted us to be," Kim said as Tommy looked away from her. She was right, but he did not want to admit it.

"Sorry, I forgot about that," Tommy said as Kim just shook her head. She could not believe him, but his forgetfulness was legendary.

"I love that you have the audacity to say that," Kim said as Tommy bit a bite of the biscuit, so that he could not make a remark right away. He wanted to have some time to think about what he needed to say to her. "You enjoying that?"

"Um hmm," Tommy muttered as Kim just shook her head in astonishment. She could not stand when he did this, although she loved him more than anyone else in the world.

"Tommy please quit it," Kim said as Tommy just shook his head. He knew that it was best for him to do what she asked, as she was still temperamental about some things.

"All right," Tommy said as Kim looked out towards the water and saw the continuing thunder storm. "I want to be out there too, but we can't do that now."

"Yeah, I'd much rather be safe than sorry," Kim said as Tommy pulled her chair closer to him. "Mesogogg isn't a patient person. He'll attack the rangers before we get back. He wants to hit them hard before they are able to recover."

"I figured that much. They're going to have to stand on their own two feet," Tommy said as Kim nodded. She knew that they would not be much help to them once their mission started. "I have some news for you."

"What kind of news?" Kim asked as Tommy looked away from her for a moment. He didn't know how she would take it, but he had to try to explain it.

"I've been offered a job at Angel Grove high school," Tommy said as Kim's mouth dropped open. She knew what getting back to Angel Grove meant to him, what it meant to all of them. They had all been trying to get back home for years and to think that he could do it made her so happy.

"That's great, when can you take it?" Kim asked as Tommy looked over at her, astonished. He had expected for her to absolutely be against it, to want him to stay close to her. He had been sure that he was going to have to turn it down and just stay in Reefside, for the next several years.

"Right away, but I'd never be home. I'd never see you anymore," Tommy said as Kim just shook her head. She had her own surprise for Tommy as well.

"I'm opening a gym in Angel Grove, I was going to let it be Ben's responsibility, but if you've got a job there, then I'll go and you won't need an apartment or a house. We can camp out upstairs until we can afford it," Kim said as Tommy's eyes widened in shock.

"When were you going to tell me?" Tommy asked as Kim looked away.

"When I got the chance, too much has been going on for me to tell you. I honestly hadn't thought about it until you said that. I never really thought about it, considering that I never thought you would want to go to Angel Grove, especially right now," Kim said as Tommy nodded. He knew that it had been hectic for them lately, both of them were forgetting things that they shouldn't right now. It was not anything ranger related, but it had to do with their lives, the things that actually mattered to them.

"You want that? I mean, you me to be there?" Tommy asked as Kim nodded her head yes.

"There's enough room up there for us to have a room apiece. It would be just like a two bed room apartment," Kim said as Tommy shook his head in disbelief. There was no way that they wouldn't share a room after more than a couple of weeks. They both knew that. She might as well not even try to buy him off with that sort of thing.

"How about a study instead?" Tommy suggested as Kim shrugged her shoulders as Tommy looked over at her with some concern.

"Tommy, don't worry about it," Kim said as a loud clap of thunder sounded and the power went out.

"Kim," Tommy said as he felt her hand touch his leg and he grabbed it and she tugged it away at first. "Come here, it's okay."

"No, it's not," Kim said as Tommy reached over and pulled her into his lap as she began shaking in his arms. He wanted to comfort her, but she would not let him do that right now. "He'll come."

"Honey, he's not going to. Not with me here. He can't do anything with me here," Tommy whispered as Kim clung to him and he rocked her back and forth.

"He will, Tommy," Kim muttered as Tommy heard the door creak open and he tried to look towards the sound, but he could only hear, not see anything. "Tommy don't."

"I won't leave you," Tommy said as she whimpered as she felt someone run their fingers through her hair and she screamed.

"Leave me alone," Kim said as the lights flickered back on and Kim took in shaky breaths as she spun around and saw no one was there. She was sure that it hadn't been Tommy, even he was sure about that. "Tommy…I'm not…"

"I felt it too," Tommy said, simply, as he wrapped his arms around her and rocked her back and forth even more. "Let's get some sleep, it's for the best."

"I don't know," Kim said as Tommy placed her in the chair and then walked over to the couch and pulled it out. He had remembered to bring sheets and quickly made the bed for them.

"Come on," Tommy coaxed as he picked Kim up and she pulled away from him.

"I don't want for him to come back," Kim said as she walked over to the door and he followed her, knowing she was close to having another breakdown.

"He won't," Tommy said as he wrapped her in a strong hug. "He won't do another thing to you."

"Tommy," Kim cried as he turned her around and cradled her in his arms.

"It's okay, Beautiful," Tommy said as Kim clung to him and he picked her up and carried her over to the bed. "Come on, I'll get you to sleep."

"No," Kim said, stubbornly, as Tommy looked over at her and then nodded. If she didn't want to sleep, he couldn't do anything about it. He was exhausted right now and there was not much that he could do about that.

"Just lay down, you don't have to sleep," Tommy coaxed as Kim stood up and paced around the room as Tommy laid down.

"I can't Tommy," Kim said as she sat down in a chair and stared at the door. Tommy then propped himself up and looked over at her.

"It won't stop him if he comes," Tommy said as Kim looked over at him, bewildered. Why would he say something like that to her? Why would he make her think that she was completely unprotected?

"Tommy, don't say that," Kim said as he walked over to her and picked her up, chair and all and placed the chair by the side of the couch.

"Kim, just let me know, but I have to get some sleep. I'm going on two days without any," Tommy said as Kim merely nodded. Tommy had been far too good to her and the least he deserved was some sleep.

"I'll wake you if I have to," Kim said as Tommy lay back down and had soon dozed off. Kim, however, stayed alert and stayed awake. She didn't know what had just happened but she wanted to insure that it didn't happen again.


	20. The Storm

"They're weary my lord," Demetri said as she entered the lair. They had been searching for the rangers for months and now they had found them. This just was not the way they expected to find them. They had expected to have to break them down and now it seemed that all they were going to have to do is fight them to the bitter end and it would surely be an end that neither of them would like. "An attack on them should be exceptionally easy right now."

"Demetri, you always were too hasty to battle," Nadrox said as he looked around the lair. He knew this place like the back of his hand and he liked to know his opponents that well before he went into a battle, especially one with these types of consequences if her failed. "You are lucky that they did not see you."

"It was only a small joke, I knew I'd get out in time. They have no powers that are strong enough to hold me," Demetri said as Nadrox shook his head in disbelief. He had reasons to believe that they had powers that could hold the both of them if they really allowed themselves to have their fullest powers flow through them uninhibited. He knew that he needed to prevent that from happening, but he didn't know how he would be able to do that.

"They felt your presence, more importantly she felt your presence. The only woman in the universe that can destroy you will be able to or did you, by some miracle, forget that?" Nadrox asked as Demetri just shook her head. Her brother worried about her far too much. They had been sure that these were the ones that could destroy them, but she knew they were too far gone to do any damage right now. "You are revealing far too much to them!"

"I remember it, but they do not know that it was me. They assume it is a creature called Mesogogg, this Mesogogg might be able to help us. He might be able to buy us some more time, which I think we might need dear brother," Demetri said as Nadrox shook his head no. They needed no help, as they could go one on one with these rangers. That was their only chance, as trying to bring in help would only weaken their own evil while strengthening the others.

"Only us, Demetri and only we are truly prepared. You know it is supposed to be this way. There is nothing that we can do to change it, we were chosen," Nadrox said as Demetri nodded, begrudgingly. She would rather attack now and attack hard. Nadrox did not seem to believe that same train of thought. He wanted to wait this out and just see what might possibly happen.

"You are evil and you're giving the rangers a chance to recover," Demetri stated as Nadrox just shook his head. Yes, the rangers were weak, but it was not their weakest. They needed to reach that point before they attacked, they wouldn't have a chance if they tried to take them now when the raw emotions would just push them to their best performance in years.

"They won't recover, they'll be lower, very soon. We just have to wait it out. I promise you that much," Nadrox said with an evil leer as Demetri grinned. It was going to be a wonderful day.

--------------

"Honey," Tommy muttered as he woke up and felt that Kim had snuggled up against him. He couldn't remember her coming to bed last night, but he was also exhausted from his lack of sleep. It didn't surprise him that he didn't wake up when she finally crawled in next to him. "You finally decided to sleep."

"Um," Kim murmured as he eyes flickered open and Tommy smiled down at her. He had always loved watching her wake up, even when they were teenagers it had been one of his favorite past times. "How'd I get over here?"

"It was foolish for you to be alone," a vaguely familiar voice said as they both jerked up form their position and looked back at him. They did not like to wake up to an intruder and wanted to get this person out of their midst as soon as humanly possible. They were supposed to be gathering themselves back into some semblance of human existence, which was going to be extremely hard considering what had happened lately.

"Ninjor?" Tommy asked as they scrambled over the couch towards him. They had not seen him in close to a decade and they were not sure if this was a good visit. The last time it had been to get powers and they couldn't understand why he would just materialize here without a decent reason.

"Yes, Tommy, I have returned, although it is not a pleasure trip, I assure you," Ninjor said as Kim and Tommy both rearranged their clothing, as it had shifted to where it was showing much more than either of them wanted Ninjor to see. "The two of you have much to learn and very little time. The rangers should have told you the contents of that box immediately. Things would have already begun that are very necessary for this mission. Now we must catch up."

"Whoa, you need to hold on a second," Kim said as Ninjor had started towards the door. She was not sure she wanted to do whatever had to be done right now. It wasn't like she had had a great week and adding something like this on top of it might just push her over the edge, where even Tommy couldn't reach her. "You're here to do what?"

"Train you, of course," Ninjor said as Tommy gave Kim a skeptical look. They had been training for years before now, why would their skills suddenly not be up to par? They had been able to take on anything that had ever challenged them and he was sure that he could take care of it on his own.

"What kind of training do we need?" Tommy asked as Ninjor grabbed each of their hands.

"Training that earth cannot provide," Ninjor said and they disappeared with a pop from the cabin.

--------------

"Okay, who wants to call Dr. O?" Hayley joked as Conner, Kira, and Ethan gathered at the bar.

"We won't bother him today," Kira said as Hayley nodded, sure that Tommy would appreciate it. He was having a hard enough time with Kim any ways; he didn't need any added worries.

"He's had it bad enough," Conner added as Hayley nodded her head in agreement.

"Have you practiced any?" Hayley asked as Conner nodded his head yes. Although Dr. O had made them leave, they still practiced at the park, they knew that they needed it. "That's good, Tommy will be proud to have instilled some sense of a work ethic in you already. It must have taken them years to get this far into this."

"He's driven it into our heads that we must and the last week has shown us that much of his lecturing was true, even if everything else wasn't true," Conner said as they nodded. It had been exceptionally rough without their leaders and now they were sure that they were going to have to go another few weeks without them again. Kim needed time to recover and Tommy needed time to calm down, so that he wouldn't kill Mesogogg as first sight.

"Breaking news," a tv broadcaster said as Conner, Ethan, and Kira looked at each other. They had learned to hate that statement with a passion, because it usually meant a very uncomfortable situation was about to occur. "There is an attack in downtown Reefside…"

"Back to work," Conner mumbled as they walked past Hayley and into the back room so that they could teleport away unseen.

"Come on little rangers. You can't just sit back and watch this," Mesogogg taunted as he watched his tryannadrones destroy everything in sight. He knew the rangers would come, they couldn't let their town be destroyed. They still had that much decency in them, although they were not the best at this policy.

"Remind me to never teleport on an empty stomach again," Conner said as Kira just shook her head as she charged at the nearest tryannadrones. There were far more than she had ever seen before, but she did not doubt her abilities after the weeks without Dr. O. She knew that they could take care of this, if they just trusted in themselves

"Ah!" Kira yelled as she was tossed away from the fight by an unknown being. "Who are you?"

"Zeltrax," Zeltrax said, menacingly, as Kira struggled to her feet and then faced him. He honestly didn't scare her in the least bit. She had seen much worse attack someone who was not even a ranger, she had powers on her side, but she forgot that the other side had equally evil powers as well. "You're a brave little Power Ranger, aren't you?"

"You haven't met Dr. O, have you?" Kira asked as the being came towards her and she merely moved out of the way and watched him skid on the ground. He was definitely not the smartest being that had ever been created and Kira was sure that this was something Dr. O would be happy about.

"Dr. O? Who do they speak of Mesogogg?" Zeltrax asked as the yellow ranger slung him into the nearest wall.

"A myth, an unreal ranger," Mesogogg said as Kira laughed. Dr. Oliver was not a myth and Mesogogg knew that all too well. He just didn't want for one of his henchman to get scared and walk away from it all on the first day that he tried him out. She knew that Dr. O had to be legendary among evil beings and an evil being that was stupid enough to be after Kim around Tommy had to know his risks and that his odds were not so good.

"He's more real than you," Kira spat out as Mesogogg backhanded her to the ground. She had a lot of guts to talk to him like that and expect to live. Kimberly had just been lucky that Tommy had been her savior lately; otherwise she would have been dead. He knew that he did not plan on letting her live much longer, if he couldn't get to Tommy.

"Kira," Conner muttered under his breath as he started to make his way through the tryannadrones, towards her. He was worried that Mesogogg would treat her the same way as Kimberly and that scared him to death. He didn't think that he could deal with that sort of issue in this point in his life.

"Little ranger, haven't you learned that I am not one to be crossed?" Mesogogg all but roared as Kira pushed herself to her feet and he then slung her into the nearest wall, knocking her out.

"Kira!" Conner yelled as several of the tryannadrones held him back.

"So you are the one that loves her," Mesogogg muttered as he walked over to Kira and picked her up. "I think I should take her away for awhile."

"No!" Conner yelled as he broke free from the tryannadrones and charged at Mesogogg. He would not hurt her if he had anything to do with it.

"Good-bye," Mesogogg said as he opened an invisaportal and took the two of them through it.

"Kira!" Conner yelled as the tryannadrones disappeared and Conner looked over at Ethan. After what had happened to Kim, he didn't want her to be anywhere near the beast. He didn't want to risk her safety on something like this, it was just too stupid.

"Come on; let's get to the Command Center. I'm sure Hayley has seen what's happened," Ethan said as Conner nodded and then teleported away. "What have we gotten ourselves into?"

--------------

"Phaedos?" Tommy questioned as they landed on the familiar planet and they looked over at Ninjor, hoping he would explain this to them. They had no reason to be here. They hadn't done anything that would deserve a trip to this planet as a consequence. It was as if they were going to have to go through that hell again.

"This was you first true challenge as rangers and it will be the beginning of your last," Ninjor said as Kim looked over at Tommy and he gathered her in his arms. Neither of them liked Phaedos that much, especially considering the fact that Kim had almost been speared by a pile of dinosaur bones. It definitely was on up there on their list of things that a ranger shouldn't have to go through more than once.

"Ninjor, what do you mean?" Tommy began as Ninjor walked over to the side and disappeared. He could not help them here, they had to do this on their own. "Great, now he leaves us alone to sort out this mess."

"Tommy, I'd be more worried about that," Kim said as she pointed towards the beak brained vultures flying towards them.

"Run," Tommy said as Kim took off and he stood for a few seconds longer before he followed her into a cave.

"We can't hide here forever," Kim said as Tommy just shook his head. He knew that she was right, but they had to think of some sort of plan. They couldn't just go out there and try to destroy the beings. They had almost done them in the last time that they faced them and there were six of them then. With only two, it seemed like it was going to be a impossibility.

"You're right, you can't," a voice said which caused Kim to jump into Tommy's lap, as they had both collapsed as soon as they had entered the cave.

"Dulcea," Tommy said as Kim looked back at him, hoping he was right. She honestly didn't want to run into any sort of being right now that might truly harm them.

"Yes, Tommy. I told you that I'd be seeing you again," Dulcea said as she pulled the two of them to their feet. "It's time to reconnect you with your animal spirit."

"We don't need to reconnect, we have powers," Kim said as Dulcea shook her head and then lit her staff. The powers that they needed were here, they were not in the gems that they held in their hands.

"We're inside the power chamber, where your powers last came from. Further in and higher up, you will find that spirit again. The two of you are some of the best, after all," Dulcea said as she disappeared, leaving them speechless.

"I think her and Ninjor are enjoying this just a little bit too much," Kim said with a smile as Tommy nodded. He had certainly gotten that feeling as well. It seemed that they enjoyed these little quests that the rangers were sent on, especially when it crossed their path, more than once.

"How many times do you think that they've worked with Power Rangers that they knew before?" Tommy asked as Kim ignored him, there was something ahead and she couldn't quite tell what it was.

"Tommy, hold up," Kim said as the object moved and she grabbed his hand. She didn't like this at all. She couldn't help but remember what the rocky beings had done to them last time.

"We have to go, Earth needs us and so do the rangers. They're going to be completely lost if we are gone for too long," Tommy said as Kim nodded. Their poor rangers had no idea what was in store for them, hell even they weren't so sure of that anymore. "Come on, it can't be that bad."

"Famous last words," Kim said as the horrid beings that they faced the previous time came into view. "Great."

"Don't remind me," Tommy muttered as he launched himself into the fight with Kim only a few steps behind him. The kicks and spins came faster and harder and soon it was only a blur of ranger fighting, until the last stone protector fell.

"Ninjor, Dulcea, we've reconnected," Kim stated, rather out of breath, as the beings materialized in front of her.

"That went far more quickly than we thought it would," Ninjor admitted as Kim and Tommy smiled. "But there is not time for celebration; you must go back to Earth. One of your rangers is in despair."


	21. Volunteering

No rest for the weary, all rangers know that is the honest truth of their lives while they are connected with their powers. They are never able to get a much needed break at the right time; they have to wait until all the fighting is done. That fighting, however, often took so much out of them that they were not able to recognize what was going on.

Conner and Ethan, however, were finding all of this out the hard way. Dr. O and Kim seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth and they had no clue where to begin searching for them or Kira. Hayley was really no help, considering the fact that she did not know if Tommy had installed a tracking device or just let it all be up to them to find a missing ranger. She knew about the history of ranger disappearances in the past, but had no clue how to find them. Billy had done most of the work last time and she hadn't even attempted to take notes. She hadn't thought that it would happen again.

"Come on, Dr. O had to tell you where they were going. He wouldn't just leave us like this without any help. He knows how things are going right now," Conner said, again, as Hayley shook her head no. Tommy had just taken off, which was so unlike him, but he didn't want to be followed anymore. He wanted to guarantee that he was going to have time to heal Kim without any interruptions.

"I'd tell you if I knew, but I don't. We've got to come up with something on our own. It's Kira's only chance, if Kim and Tommy don't show up very soon," Hayley said as Kim and Tommy materialized in front of them. They didn't know where they might come out, but landing here let them know exactly how bad things must be. Ninjor had not sent them home; he had sent them to the rangers.

"This is not your uncle's cabin," Kim remarked as Tommy smiled down at her, so what if the teleportation was a bit off. They had at least arrived in one piece, which was always a miracle coming from Phaedos. The teleportations from there were notoriously rough on the rangers, as they took a great deal of power to pull off and the only powers that seemed to be strong enough were the Ninjetti powers.

"Dr. O?" Conner asked as Tommy turned around; he now knew why he had been brought here. Something was very wrong with his rangers. Otherwise, they would have let them go back to the cabin and just contact them from there. The problem was that they had honestly hoped to be able to take a little time to gather themselves back together. They had had just a few shocks this afternoon.

"Where's Kira?" Tommy asked as he looked around and they could only shake their heads that no one wanted to know the answer. They were sure that Kim and Tommy would not like to hear it, although they could probably figure it out faster than anyone else here.

"Mesogogg has her?" Kim asked as Conner nodded his head yes and Kim lost all ability to think as she charged out of the Command Center.

"Kim, honey, wait up. You don't need to do this," Tommy said as he turned to run after her, she did not need to barge in there alone. She was not strong enough to deal with this by herself just yet.

"Where are you going?" Conner asked as they had scanned all of earth and found no Kira or Mesogogg. Unless Kim had some sort of unknown power, she wouldn't be able to find her either.

"Hell if I know, but she's got some crazy idea and I'm not going to stop her, unless this is a suicide mission. Then I'll have to try to convince her otherwise," Tommy said as he disappeared and Conner gave Hayley the most confused look in the world. Why would Dr. O let his girlfriend run off into something that could potentially harm her more than anything else in the world?

"Don't ask me, the two of them speak a language all their own. I don't think it wise for any of us to try to interpret anything that they say. It's not like we would be able to understand," Hayley said as Conner and Ethan exchanged a glance, this was certainly different for them.

"What are you doing?" Tommy asked as he caught up with Kim. He didn't want her to do what he was thinking that she was going to attempt. He couldn't deal with that sort of selflessness from her right now. He knew just how irrationally she was thinking if she wanted to attempt something like that.

"Saving Kira, it's me that he wants Tommy and it's me he'll get. She has done nothing to deserve having to go through the hell he'll inflict," Kim said as she reached for her communicator, but Tommy stopped her dead in her tracks.

"I'm not putting you back in that hell, either. You never did a damn thing to him. You don't deserve it, we'll figure out another way," Tommy said, adamantly, as Kim looked back at him, not the least bit worried. She knew that she could handle Mesogogg, as she had done so many times in the past.

"But is it fair to leave a seventeen year old there? She's not even experienced in fighting, Tommy, at least I am. At least I know what I am doing against him," Kim said as Tommy merely looked away, not wanting to admit how right she really was. Kira was in far more danger than Kim and he knew that if she didn't go, then Kira would probably die, very soon. "That's what I thought, let me be the one to bargain with him. He'll take a deal from me."

"He'll want you to stay," Tommy said as Kim nodded. She had already evaluated that much before Tommy had gotten to her. She knew she would have to spend some time with him to ensure Kira's safety, but that was only a small price to pay. No girl deserved to have to be tortured by him.

"But you'll get me back, I know you too well. I know that you'll find a way, Tommy. You always do, you seem to be the only one that can get me back no matter what happens," Kim said as Conner and Ethan ran up, having figured out Kim's plan on their own. They could not let her do this, Kira would not want for her to do this for her. Kim had been through far too much lately.

"You can't do that to yourself," Conner said as Kim gave him a weak smile. He didn't seem to understand, it was either her or Kira. She had the better chance and she had already had so much happen that it wasn't even funny. Mesogogg couldn't do much more to her and Tommy knew that. That was the only reason that he was not yelling at her for even thinking such a thing.

"No one needs to go through what I went through. We might still have time to stop him but that requires me to go with him. It'll only be until Kira's out, then I'll find a way out. I've been there before, I know ways out that none of you would ever think of, you just have to trust me on this," Kim said as Tommy merely looked away as an invisaportal opened and Mesogogg stumbled out.

"Nice plan, Kimberly," Mesogogg said as Kim glared over at him. It was one thing to talk about doing the right thing and it was another thing to actually do it. "Too bad it won't work."

"Where is she?" Kim challenged as she walked forwards and Mesogogg smiled over at her. He was not going to give up that sort of information without torturing Kim some first. It certainly was well worth whatever he gave up just to see her squirm.

"My friends are having some fun," Mesogogg said as Kim gave him a disgusted look. With her new powers, she could sense Kira, but she just couldn't get to her.

"You're pissing me off," Kim muttered as Tommy could feel her powers radiating out of her and was sure that Mesogogg was feeling it as well. He knew that Kim was about to explode and he just hoped that Conner and Ethan would get out of her line of fire, quickly. They had never been properly introduced to Kimberly when she was roaring mad. "I'll ask you one more time, where is she?"

"A place you cannot reach," Mesogogg taunted as Kim looked over at Tommy, his senses must be killing him by now with everything that she was holding back. She could see it in his face that he knew what needed to be done and merely nodded as she turned back to Mesogogg.

"Bow," Kim muttered as a pink bow appeared in her hands and she carefully placed an arrow on the string and glared at Mesogogg. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

"You wouldn't…" Mesogogg began as the arrow zinged inches to his left. He was now very unsure of what the otherwise petrified Kim would do. He had expected it to be weeks before he faced her again and he had expected her to curl up in a ball and not fight. Something had changed in her, a spark had been ignited that he should have left dormant, for much longer.

"Don't tell me what I wouldn't do anymore," Kim whispered as Tommy walked over to the invisaportal and dove through it. He was sure Kim would keep Mesogogg occupied long enough for him to rescue Kira. "The nice Kim is gone."

"Surely you jest," Mesogogg said as another arrow flew by him and he knew that she was missing on purpose, she could kill him whenever she wished.

"I don't jest, you're mine," Kim said as she tossed her bow to Conner, who just managed to catch it. "Ninjetti crane."

"What the hell…" Mesogogg muttered as a pink ranger now stood before him, dressed in ninja garb. He had heard of these rangers, but never thought Kim had been one. It seemed like it was after her time, but obviously he had been a little off on the time line of when she had been a ranger.

"We have more than just you to deal with," Kim muttered as Conner and Ethan exchanged a glance. What was Kim talking about? Was there really something else out there that might come after them at a moment's notice?

"Do you have any idea how she became the pink ranger?" Conner asked as Mesogogg and Kim circled each other. They could have sworn that she had been the white ranger the last time that she morphed, even if she was evil at the time. It didn't really count anymore in their minds.

"I'm just as confused as you are as to how that happened," Ethan said as he looked at the bow more carefully and saw an inscription that could barely be distinguished except when the light hit it a certain way. "This bow is entrusted to the ender of all evil."

"That's certainly not me," Conner said as Kim began to fight with Mesogogg. The pink ranger was surprisingly good at backing him into a corner without any outside help. How they wished that they had that skill, they knew that it had been acquired through years of hard work, but they knew that they wouldn't have that much time.

"It's hers, Conner," Ethan said with an exasperated sigh and Conner finally got the picture. Kim was supposed to, somehow, end all evil. Was that what had been going on with her and Dr. O when they disappeared? Had they been getting something for that mission? Something that was much more important than everything that they had right now.

"Let's get you back to the Command Center," Tommy muttered as he carried Kira out of the invisaportal. She did not look good to him, but he knew that nothing more than the bruising she took had happened to her. He had been sure to get at least that much out of Mesogogg's cronies before he disappeared. He wanted to be able to assure Conner that Kira really would be okay once the bruises were gone.

"I'm getting out of here," Mesogogg said as he dove through the invisaportal and Kim let out a frustrated groan. She had wanted so badly to make him pay for what he had done, but he was too much of a coward to stay and take it.

"Did Dr. O come back?" Conner asked, suddenly worried that their teacher was trapped there as well.

"Yeah, he just made it," Kim said as she grabbed her bow from Conner and just nodded. Neither was sure what that meant, but they were sure that she was fine with them. "Mesogogg needs to start picking out his tombstone."

"What the hell is going on?" Hayley asked as Kim walked in with Conner and Ethan and then pulled down her mask. The mask didn't need to hide her face when she was with people that she knew. "How'd you become the pink ranger? And where did those suits come from?"

"We need to do that story justice, so just wait for everyone to gather here. It's time we saw what's inside that box," Kim said as Tommy just stared at her in awe. Her raw emotion let him know that she was teetering on a very dangerous line right now. "I'm not screwing around anymore Tommy. It's time that they get what is coming to them and leave the earth alone, for good."

"I get the point," Tommy said as Conner walked over to Kira and sat down in the chair that Tommy stuck behind him. He knew how people were likely to react to this type of thing. He had been through the situations more times than he would like to remember and he knew what it had done to him every time.

"Hayley contact the others, then teleport them here," Kim said as Hayley merely nodded. She was sure the story was well worth retelling and that everyone needed to hear it in order to believe it.

"Kim, honey, are you going to power down?" Tommy asked as Kim looked down at her uniform and then nodded as she powered down. "We don't want them to guess before you tell the story."

"What about Kira? A damn story won't help her wake up," Conner said as Kim and Tommy gave him sympathetic glances. They had both sat in that chair and felt the responsibility of it. They knew that it was horrible to watch someone that you care about just lie there and that you were helpless to help them, but they only thing that they could guarantee was that this would bring them closer. It had every time that Kim or Tommy had been the one lying on that bed.

"She'll wake up, it just may take some time," Kim said as Conner looked over at her in disbelief. Dr. O had not readily accepted that for her, so why should he? This was an injury that was nowhere near as bad as hers. She should be awake right now, joking around with all of them.

"Easy for you to say," Conner said as Kim looked over at him. Did he not remember what the two of them had been through? Did he not remember when it was her on that bed and although Tommy was freaking out, he was taking it a hell of a lot better than Conner right now.

"It's been hard, but we've been through much worse. She'll be fine, Conner," Kim said, pointedly, as Conner looked at her. She was not complaining about having to come back and fight after only two days to recover. They could live with the small injuries that Kira had. This was the norm in the ranger world and they all needed to get used to it. They couldn't be babied anymore.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were going to disappear for a few days," Jason said as Tommy gave him a look that clearly said that plan had been axed. He couldn't help but wonder what had happened to cause that to be a problem for them. They had gone away to his uncle's cabin and left a message with only him that said to contact them if hell froze over, which told him that they didn't want to hear about a damn thing that was happening anywhere in the world for a couple of days.

"We've got so much to tell you, but we need that box," Tommy said as Billy handed it over and Tommy opened the lid and pulled out their old morphers. That was all it contained, but that was enough to make it all too clear to them. "Here you go."

"I've missed this," Kim muttered as she smiled over at him and they simultaneously popped the morphers on their hands and morphed.

"What the holy hell," Billy murmured as Kim and Tommy pulled their masks down and smiled over at their fellow rangers. They had honestly expected their reaction to be worse than this.

"I guess Zordon knew we'd never get any stronger powers," Tommy said as Kim shook her head. Tommy had probably experienced stronger powers, but there was no telling him that. He had always believed that this was the strongest set he had ever had, even if the statistics showed otherwise. The turbo powers should have honestly kicked his Ninjetti powers ass, but they never had, not like every other ranger had experienced.

"Please tell me that you are much better," Trini said as Tommy grabbed Kim's hand. He knew that she couldn't tell them that and she didn't need to lie to them. They were their friends and deserved to still know some semblance of the truth. "How are you going to fight him?"

"We're not. There's some other evil out there for us," Tommy said as Kim placed her arms around him. "And I'm not going back to Reefside High, it's time I go back home."

"You got a job in Angel Grove?" Trini asked as Tommy nodded his head yes. With Kim's okay, all he had to do was go, nothing else was holding him back.

"Hayley take the house, Mercer wanted someone with need to have it. I don't need it anymore," Tommy said as Ethan and Conner stared at him and he could feel their eyes. "I'm only a push of a button away. It's either now or never, so I might as well do what I've been waiting to."

"But why not give the house to Kim?" Hayley asked as Kim reached over to the desk, where she had discarded her glasses.

With the mask up, she could see fine, but when the powers were not coursing through her she needed them. She still was not cured of her vision woes.

"I was opening a gym in Angel Grove anyway, I might as well go back myself," Kim said as their friends exchanged a glance. They weren't going to ask the inevitable question in front of the teens, but they had a good idea of the answer already. Kim and Tommy were going to move in together, which was something that they all wanted to happen, just as much as they wanted them to get married.

"You're leaving us?" Conner asked as Tommy turned to face them.

"As your teacher yes, as your mentor, no. I'll still be here a lot, but the two of us have to go after something we don't even really understand," Tommy said as Kira let out a groan and Kim smiled. She was known for taunting Tommy with that sort of thing and it seemed that Kira was the same way.

"What can you possibly be smiling about?" Conner asked, irritated with the whole situation.

"She does that to me," Tommy said as Kira groaned again and Kim nodded. They constantly reminded her of how cruel she was to Tommy in high school.

"Must have something to do with the pterodactyl in the both of you," Billy said as Trini shook her head. Leave it to Billy to find some sort of scientific connection in the situation and not try to just connect with them both being a tad bit drama queen-ish.

"What about our problem?" Conner asked as Tommy and Kim looked at each other. They would have had the same concerns if Zordon suddenly suited up and told them that he was going to Eltar to fight, but these kids just had to trust them. They weren't doing this just for the hell of it. "Dr. O, an answer!"

"My head," Kira muttered as she woke up. Conner's shouting had seemed to break her out of her comatose state, but she would have rather avoided this headache.

"You can't leave us, Dr. O," Ethan said as Conner was staring at Kira as she sat up and Conner caught her as she tipped over to the side.

"You don't know what you're asking us to do if we stay," Kim said as Kira gave Conner a confused look. Why were they dressed as Ninjas and why were they leaving? She was sure that she had only been out for a few minutes, not days.

"What did I miss?" Kira whispered as Conner looked down at her and then over at Kim and Tommy. They had to tell her, because he couldn't without losing his temper.

"We're leaving you, to go fight for the greater good," Kim said as Kira stared at Kim and Tommy. How could they do this to them?

"How could you? How can you? We need you more than whatever the hell this greater good is!" Kira yelled as she stood up and promptly was caught by Conner. She was too weak and they all knew that.

"Our greater good will end all evil," Kim said as she could feel Tommy fuming next to her. It didn't matter how many times they went through this in their heads, they knew it wouldn't be taken too well until they threw the facts up in their faces. They were going to have to say some things that they would later regret, but there was no other way around it. They all had to know the truth before they began their mission. "Don't you get it? We're putting out asses on the line to save you and everyone else on this Earth. Show us some respect, because neither of us is predicted to live through this."

"What?" Jason asked looking from Kim's tear stained face to Tommy's and noticed that he was completely absorbed in calming Kim back down. He knew it must be true then, Tommy would have at least spared him a glance if she was not telling the truth about the situation. "Kim, if we had known, we wouldn't have...we wouldn't have…"

"You wouldn't have what?" Tommy managed to ask as Kim looked over at the other rangers. She did not like what she saw in their eyes, she knew what guilt looked like all too well.

"Volunteered you for the task, we knew you were the strongest, especially together," Trini said as Kim slumped against Tommy and he pulled her in close.

"It was the only way we thought the two of you would ever be together again. We did it the night we came back from Murianthius. Zordon asked us and we told him the two of you, even Kat wanted you two back together," Jason said as they heard the sobs from Kim and Jason forced himself to press on. He couldn't let her think that they had volunteered them to go and die. "We never would have done it if we knew that you might die."

"No…" Kim moaned as Tommy gathered her up and carried her out of the Command Center as the others merely watched. They had no clue what to do to make it better on them and they were not even sure that Tommy knew how to make Kim calm down.

"I didn't mean it," Kira muttered as Conner gave her a kiss on the forehead and stroked down her hair. She hadn't done anything to cause this, except ask a question. Kim and Tommy had a lot of undue stress on them and she should realize that.

"I know," Conner whispered as Kira clutched to him. She had done this a few times, but he had never felt like this before. He had seen the utter despair Kim was feeling and to see that Kira felt just a fraction of that broke him. He could only imagine how Dr. O felt right now.

"God help us," Trini said as she reached for Jason and he wrapped her up in a strong hug. Tommy and Kim were not going to…they were going to have a hard time with this. To know that all the other rangers had decided this for them. They weren't going to deal with them for a long time. They had been betrayed by their own.


	22. Rage

"Breathe Kim, breathe," Tommy said as Kim was taking the most sporadic breaths he had ever heard from her. He knew he had to get her calmed down or she would faint soon and that was something that he didn't want to happen. He needed for her to stay with him, just for a little while. "It's okay, baby. Everything will be fine, just trust me."

"They…they betrayed us," Kim cried as she continued to take breathes that shook Tommy to his core. He had never seen her this upset about something and there had been times when she should have been this way.

"Kim, they just wanted us to get back together. They said they didn't know it might kill us. If they had known they wouldn't have done this," Tommy said as Kim looked up at him and he wiped away her tears, but couldn't manage to stop the flow. She was so angry right now and it hurt her to know that her friends had done this to her.

"There are other ways to do that beside volunteer us for a sure death mission!" Kim practically roared as several of the other rangers cringed in the next room. Kim was not attempting to keep any of her discontent a secret. She wanted them to know exactly how pissed off she was at them and she had every right to be that way. They had volunteered them for this, but they hadn't known what was predicted for them. If they had known that, they would have left them alone and stayed out of it, but Zordon hadn't told them about it.

"Even we didn't know that…we didn't know it would do this to us. I'm sure that they didn't know," Tommy said as Kim gave him the most pissed look he had seen in years. He was afraid of what this was going to do to them if she stormed away from him now. "Come on, Kim, you saw Jason's reaction, they wouldn't have done this if they had known it would kill us. They wanted us to have a chance at a life together."

"Tommy, why us? Why couldn't it be one of them?" Kim yelled as she pushed him away. She was so aggravated right now that even Tommy was not welcome. He was not mad, he was understanding and she needed someone to be mad with her.

"Don't you think that Zordon knew that he wanted it to be us? Why do you think that we were not invited to this little get together?" Tommy reasoned as Kim glared at him. She did not want to listen to reason. She wanted him to be just as pissed off as she was, but he just didn't have the heart to truly get behind the issue. He knew that they were going to need their friends to get through the next few months alive.

"Take their side," Kim said as she stalked out of the cave and Tommy just stood there. He couldn't follow her, he knew she needed some space or he would be icing some very sore bruises. They couldn't afford for this to turn into a gargantuan fight, so he was just going to let her cool off for a little while, hopefully that would work.

"It's not a side," Tommy said to her back as she just shook her head and silently flicked him off. Tommy threw up his arms in resignation and then stalked back towards the command center. He could not believe they were fighting over this. It wasn't like they could go back and change things, no matter how much they wanted to do just that. They were stuck with the responsibility of taking down this evil. "Thanks guys."

"Tommy, we didn't know," Jason said as Tommy powered down as he walked through the command center.

"You convince her of that," Tommy said as a power emanated from him that kept all of them away. He didn't know what he was doing, but they could all feel that his emotions were teetering on a very dangerous edge. "Because without her, I can't do what they're asking. There's absolutely no way I'll be able to manage it alone."

"I'll go," Jason said as he walked out through the cave. Kim was mad at Tommy because of them, not because of something he had done. It was definitely the first time that he could remember them having a fight over something that their friends had done to them, usually they fought over what the other volunteered them to do. They kinda were known for accidentally putting the other in a sticky position, quite often.

"Dr. O," Kira said, tentatively, as he turned and faced them. "Um, how exactly are we supposed to…"

"You'll make it without us, if there even is an us after this," Tommy said as Trini put her arms around him in a comforting hug.

"Tommy, we didn't mean to do this to you," Trini whispered as Tommy nodded. He understood that completely, but Kimberly didn't and that was a problem. He had so much stress on him right now that he couldn't attempt to explain it or they would wind up not talking to each other again. That was definitely something that he did not want to have happen any time soon; they needed to be on good terms with each other, for the sake of the entire world. "We just thought that it'd help. It was the only guarantee that you would ever be together again."

"I think that we're predicted to die is just a little bit too much for her to take right now. Things have been rough on her lately," Tommy said as he just shook his head. "Hell, it's a lot for me to take and I've not had anything happen to me."

"What happens to her, happens to you. We all learned that years ago, you have to take some time for you to feel or you are going to breakdown, too," Trini said as Tommy looked away. He knew how true it was, but he also knew that he didn't want to admit that in front of the young rangers. They didn't quite understand the complexity of their relationship, but they were soon going to get the idea loud and clear. "Tommy, go after her."

"She doesn't want to talk with me," Tommy said as Trini just pushed him back out the door. She knew what was best for him, even if he didn't. "Trini…"

"Just like she didn't want you anymore Tommy, it's just to protect you from getting hurt anymore," Trini said, pointedly, as Tommy just sighed. She was definitely right about that one.

"If they don't get it together soon," Billy said with a shake of his head as Trini gave him a harsh look. They had to have some hope in Kim and Tommy or none of them would survive. A lot depended on the two of them being able to pull this off, no matter what the cost might be.

"We all know that Billy, that's why it had to be them. They're stronger than all of us have ever been," Zack said as the others nodded. They had seen it in the past and they knew that it was still there when the two of them fused themselves together.

---------

"Kim!" Jason yelled as he ran after the fleeing pink ranger. He had forgotten how much her powers sped her up and he was wishing that she would just power down so that he would be able to catch up with her. "Kim, come on!"

"Leave me alone," Kim practically roared as she ran into a man's chest and stumbled backwards.

"Where are you going?" Nadrox asked as Kim backed away from him, suddenly wishing that Tommy was at her side. She was getting a feeling from this man that scared her and sent shivers up and down her spine. "Pretty pink ranger…"

"Jason, stop!" Kim yelled as she turned towards him and he managed to stop several paces away from them. Jason didn't like the look of this, but he no longer had any powers and Kim, on the other hand, had just been recharged. He knew why she wouldn't let him get any closer and he had to respect that she wanted to protect him. Hopefully Tommy or someone would be watching this and they would show up to help. "Tommy…"

"Holy crap," Jason muttered as Tommy landed next to Kim. He had never known any ranger to have the ability to pull another ranger to their side when they were in need, but it was obvious that Kim and Tommy now had that ability with each other.

"Who are you?" Tommy asked as Kim pulled up her mask in preparation for whatever was to come.

"Just an innocent by stander," Nadrox said as Kim shook her head in disagreement. That definitely was not true. She could feel the evil radiating off him. She just didn't know why he would show up at such an odd time.

"I know," Tommy muttered as he pulled out his morpher. He certainly wanted to be on good terms with Kim before he did this again. He knew that morphing when they were not happy with each other was never really a wise thing to do.

"I'm not here to fight you, yet," Nadrox said as Demetri landed next to him and Kim jumped back. She suddenly wanted for Tommy to wrap her up in a tight hug and take her home. She had a bone chilling shiver running through her body and she could tell that this woman was pulling all of her happy emotions out and leaving her with what she really was right now, which was an emotional wreck.

"Kim," Tommy said as he looked between her and the two people in front of her. Something was wrong with her, something that he could only understand if he had been able to jump inside her brain, which was impossible.

"Take me home, Tommy," Kim suddenly begged as she got the chilling feeling from Demetri. It was the same feeling that she had had back at his uncle's house. She didn't want to be here anymore because of that. She wanted to get as far away from that feeling as humanly possible.

"Oh goody, mine's ready for the taking," Demetri practically beamed as Nadrox looked over at her. Tommy was still much too strong for him to take out any time soon. They were honestly going to have to wait until something happened to pull him down and they had no clue what they might be.

"No fighting today Demetri," Nadrox said as Demetri's smile faded. She wanted to jump into the fighting as soon as possible, as she felt that it was going to take awhile to truly break them down. "He can still kill both of us."

"You're no fun," Demetri said as they disappeared and Kim fell to her knees, weeping.

"Come on, power down," Tommy gently coaxed, as he pulled down her mask. "It's okay, baby. Look at me, it's all fine. They're gone, nothing is going to happen to you."

"It's not all right Tommy. It was her that came," Kim strangled out as Tommy looked confused. He was not following her train of thought in the least bit. "At the cabin Tommy, I'm sure of it."

"Power down baby," Tommy pleaded as she pulled him into her and began her harried breathing again. "Come on, I got you, power down for me."

"Take me home, Tommy," Kim begged once more as he scooped her up and looked back at Jason.

"I'll walk Tommy, take her first," Jason said as Tommy nodded and then was teleported away.

"Tommy," Trini said, tentatively, as the white stream of light changed into his form. "Is she okay?"

"I'm taking her home," Tommy muttered as he walked upstairs and continued up to his, no really their, room.

"I didn't hear the front door," Conner said as Kira just shook her head. Dr. O hadn't taken her out of the house. He had taken her to be alone with him. He was her home and he had been for years, even when they weren't together.

"You wouldn't. Tommy just had to get her alone for her to be home," Kat explained as Conner stood, mesmerized by the thought. He had never seen two people that were so connected. He hadn't thought it humanly possible for two people to be content with each other the way that they were, but obviously he had been wrong.

"What was that any way? Kim's never done that before," Ethan said as Billy and Trini looked towards the entryway, where Jason materialized.

"She hasn't healed yet. It's all happening too fast for her to be able to recover and she is just trying to push it down," Jason said as Trini nodded. "We should have told Zordon no."

"Jason, he wanted it to be them, just like us. There is nothing that we can do about it now," Trini said as Jason shook his head. This was causing them too much harm for them to be able to do any good.

"They can't take it," Jason said as Billy shook his head in disbelief. Jason had always been the optimist. "Did you not just see that? She's nowhere near ready and they're asking it of her now."

"I may be a fool to say this," Conner said started as they all looked over at the young rangers. Why hadn't they sent them home already?

"Never stopped you before," Kira muttered as Ethan elbowed her in the ribs.

"Dr. O and Kim are the power couple of all power rangers, we all know that. So it seems logical that anyone trying to break him down, goes after her first. They're just waiting for her to bring him down as well," Conner said as the others looked grave. It was something all of them had been thinking, but none of them wanted to verbalize it. Only a brave, inexperienced fool would dare to do such a thing.

----------

"Kim," Tommy muttered as he laid her in the bed and she clung to him as he tried to stand up. "I'm just going to lay down beside you. I'm not leaving you."

"No, not that Tommy," Kim murmured in his ear as he kissed her cheek. "Please…"

"Kim," Tommy said, pulling back only far enough to look her in the eyes. She was pleading, begging him for the one thing that he was not ready to give.

"Don't make me beg you," Kim said as Tommy couldn't nod, he could barely move. "I love you."

"Beautiful," Tommy muttered as she gave him a rough kiss. In his mind a million things were being brought up, but the most urgent was to stop this. To stop them from their ultimate undoing as he knew they couldn't go back, no matter how much they wanted to do that. "We can't."

"We can," Kim whispered to him as he pulled back and sat on the edge of the bed. "Tommy, I need you now, not anyone else."

"I…" Tommy rasped as he heard someone beating on the door and Kim held him in place.

"They'll answer," Kim said as he placed both of his arms around her. "I need your comfort tonight."

"And I…I don't want to hurt you," Tommy whispered as Kim looked up at him. Why was he so worried about this? It was honestly about time, even with all the crap that had happened lately.

"Tommy, please," Kim practically begged as he kissed her cheek and then led her into the bathroom. "What do you have in mind?"

"A compromise," Tommy said as he quickly stripped and then turned on the water for the tub. He didn't dare look at Kim, he was afraid of her appraisal. She already knew that he didn't care about the scars on her body, but he didn't have that, he had other areas to worry about. "Comfort, but no sex."

"Okay, I think I can deal with that," Kim said as she pulled off her own clothes and looked over at Tommy, apprehensively.

"Get in," Tommy said as Kim plopped into the water and let out a contented sigh. She had not been comfortable in days. "I guess you like this."

"The show is better from here," Kim said as Tommy shook his head and then placed some towels by the tub and then climbed in behind her. "Tommy, how are we going to do this?"

"I'm not sure, first we have to figure out what they are and how they have a connection to us," Tommy said as Kim nodded, but only enough that he could recognize it. She was far too comfortable to make any sudden moves.

"They're evil, we don't need to know much more about them," Kim said as Tommy gave her a gentle smile. This had been hard on her, but she had done everything in her power to make things better.

"Give me those," Tommy said as Kim reached to adjust her glasses. "Just feel, you don't need to see to do that."

"I love you Tommy," Kim muttered as she rested her head on his shoulder. He watched her as she slowly drifted off to sleep, long before the water had cooled down. That allowed plenty of time to consider everything, from the evil knocking at their door to exactly what he wished to do with Kim once all of this was truly over.


	23. Reckoning

"So you're giving him time to heal her?" Demetri practically roared as they watched the scene unfold before them. She could not believe that her brother thought an attack now would be completely useless. This could be one of the few opportunities that they had to solidly defeat them. "I could have taken her out today."

"I just wanted to test the water, Demetri," Nadrox said as Demetri glared over at him. Her brother always said stupid shit like that at the worst possible times. There was no more testing the water with these people, they were going to be preparing themselves for a full blown attack.

"Test the water? That's what you call letting the rangers know who we are? You were so mad when I went and played with their minds and you do this!" Demetri yelled as Nadrox shook his head. His sister had never been much of a strategist. She liked to just dive in and hope that they would come out alive, but that was something that they could not dare to do this time. They would surely die if they even attempted it now.

These two rangers were unlike anything he had ever seen. There was something between them that made him believe that all hell would break loose if they were to challenge one of them and then try to go after the other. The two of them seemed to be meant to work together. They were what he would truly call warriors and a being that warrior was rare to come across. The Power Rangers had always been up there on that list, but these two were more than rangers. They were more than anyone could even imagine them to be and if they could hone that, they would be deadly.

"We both needed to see them, to feel them out. Those two rangers put a fear in me that I haven't had since we met Zordon. Do you remember what happened then?" Nadrox asked as Demetri merely nodded her head. She could still feel where his sword had slashed her and Nadrox; well he had gotten it even worse. If they really had anything to do with him, then they were in a great deal of trouble.

"They're not Zordon," Demetri muttered as Nadrox looked over at her. She knew that just because they weren't Zordon didn't mean a damn thing to him. They gave off some of the same emotions that Zordon gave off and they also had this sense that if the fight came, they would win. The confidence definitely worried him, just slightly, considering that they were predicted to die in the process. "You think they are?"

"No, they aren't, but they're some of his rangers. You can tell by the looks they give each other. We're in dangerous territory sister," Nadrox said as Demetri nodded. They had to get down to work and quickly. These two were likely to figure out things that would hurt them and they would not be able to recover from it. They had been able to come back from so many things, but these two humans could make them face a sad truth. They were mortal and they could die.

--------------

"Tommy! Kim! Open up!" Jason yelled as he pounded on the bathroom door and Tommy finally stumbled to it, half clothed. He was so mad that he had been forced to actually get out of the tub.

"What's going on?" Tommy asked as he slipped through the door and shut it behind him, assuring that Kim would have time to put on something in peace.

"We have something that you might want to see," Jason said as Kim walked out in Tommy's t-shirt and looked up at Tommy. She did not like being disturbed other, but she was sure that this would be explained to her, as quickly as possible.

"I need my glasses, Tommy," Kim said as Tommy merely nodded then went back to get them. He knew that she would never be able to find them without having them on in the bathroom. He hadn't placed them where she would even think to look for them.

"What do you have?" Tommy asked as he grabbed Kim's hand and pulled her along after them.

"Something Zordon left you, we all forgot about it until we started to research those two assholes that came after you," Jason said as Kim looked over at Tommy. This was certainly not enough repayment in her mind, but she was going to hear them out. That was the very least that she could do for their efforts; they were trying.

"What is it?" Tommy asked, slightly irritated that they had woken Kim from her sleep. It was the first time that she had slept peacefully since that night and he knew just how important it was for her to get back to normal.

"This," Billy said as he pulled out a sword and both of their eyes widened. They knew exactly what it was and what it meant to them. But could they do what they had been asked? Could they actually go through with the plan that had been set before them? "You are the defenders of the earth, correct?"

"I guess we are," Tommy said as he took the sword in his hands and looked over at Kim with a smile. "You know what this means…"

"Yeah, I do," Kim said quietly, as the other exchanged confused looks. This was not something that they imagined going well at all. They had actually expected Kim and Tommy to yell at them for bringing them down here for a damn sword. The both of them had plenty of weapons, why would they need another?

"Are you sure you are ready for it?" Tommy asked as Kim nodded her head yes. She had known it might come to this, ever since Ninjor mentioned it. They both had hoped that this would not happen, but it had to happen, it was their only true chance. "Give me your hand…"

"What are you doing?" Kira asked as Tommy carefully slit his own hand and then Kim's which he automatically grabbed, causing an explosion of power that knocked most of them off their feet. They had not expected something like this to happen and it was certainly something that only Kim and Tommy might have even known about. Why had their powers done that and what were they up to?

"What the hell was that?" Jason asked as Kim slowly pushed herself to a seated position as Tommy did the same thing. They had had the harshest effects from the powers, but they knew it would be well worth it.

"It let's them know that we are ready," Kim said as Tommy gently ran his fingers over her scab. They had long imagined that they'd find this sort of thing, but none of the others were truly prepared. They had not been told a thing about what had been in the cards for Kim and Tommy for years.

"Ready?" Billy asked as Kim held out her hand and they watched as the word "Oliver" appeared in the scab, for a brief moment before disappearing.

"I'm an Oliver now," Kim said as Tommy smiled at the others reactions. None of them quite understood the magnitude of what had just happened, but what they were likely to think about would be comedic, to say the least.

"They explained to us that we might have to do this," Tommy said as Jason gave Tommy a knowing look. "We had to have the sword for it to work."

"So when were you going to tell us?" Jason asked as Tommy gave him a confused look. They didn't seem to be talking about the same thing anymore.

"We're not married," Kim said as it was Jason's turn to look confused. He didn't know what else that could mean. Kim now had Tommy's last name engraved in her hand. How could that not mean that they were still separated from matrimony?

"We just have a strong bond," Tommy said with a smile as Kim placed her hand on the sword. It was only supposed to truly work for Tommy, but if there was ever a time she needed it, they had both just guaranteed that it would come to her when she was in need

"That's great," Billy said as the younger rangers looked confused. They all knew that Kim and Tommy had a strong bond. It would take an idiot not to see it. But what did this have to do with anything? "The legend pertaining them says that a bonded pair will be their defeat."

"You believe in legends?" Ethan asked, skeptically, as Billy nodded his head yes. He had been part of enough to know better than to ignore any that came their way. Yes, there was a lot of crap to look around, but most of the time they were able to figure out something that would actually help them with their lives.

"We're considered a legend, but you know exactly how real we are," Tommy said as Ethan started to open his mouth, but stopped. He had a very legitimate point. They had thought the Power Rangers were a myth until they became rangers, now they knew that some legends were based on fact. "But a bonded pair? They didn't even know if we would be able to do this."

"Zordon knew you would be able to a long time ago," Jason said as Kim gave him a skeptical look. She was not sure if she trusted Zordon anymore. "It's from his data base, not ours."

"That's comforting to know," Kim said, rather sarcastically as Tommy just shook his head. She still was not ready to make up with them, not that he really blamed her there. They deserved everything she gave them, but he couldn't be mad. He knew just how persuasive Zordon could be when he really needed them to agree with him.

"He couldn't even defeat them because he was not bonded with anyone. The two of you have been our only chance since you came together years ago. He just didn't want to add that pressure to either of you," Jason explained as Kim shook her head. She still was not buying anything that they said.

"Zordon fought them?" Tommy asked as Jason nodded his head yes. They had only discovered that in the past few minutes, but they were fairly sure that they had been able to get this from the most legitimate source that they knew of, which was , of course, their command center.

"That's why it took them so long to come back. They didn't have enough power until recently," Jason said as Kim shifted uncomfortably as Trini gave her a knowing smile. Tommy's oversized shirt made her look more like a little kid, but all the rangers knew never to say that to her. Kim was known to fly off the hinges at little things like that and none of them wanted to see that happen with her new powers.

"You okay?" Tommy whispered as Kim shook her head no and then turned around and embraced him.

"Dr. O, why are you?" Conner began as Kira's hand smacked over his mouth. She didn't think he should finish the question for his own health.

"Yeah, Tommy, why?" Zack asked as Tommy glared over at him and nodded his head down at Kim. They all seemed to remember him wearing that shirt a little while ago.

"Oops," Kim said as she covered her face and Tommy just pulled her in front of him. It didn't bother him, although it did explain Kira's staring problem. "Oh no…"

"Kim," Tommy said as she sprinted up the stairs and he looked at all of them. Did they understand this any better than him?"Give me a second," Kim said as Tommy heard the worry in her voice. What could possibly be worrying her this much?

"Beautiful," Tommy said as her feet disappeared and he looked around at the others. This was definitely one of the oddest things that she had ever done.

"You know her better than us," Conner said as Tommy just shook his head. Conner then knew that he needed to stay quiet, because one more stupid outburst might end it for him. Dr. O was teetering on a very tedious ledge right now and he didn't want to be the one to push him off of it.

"Mesogogg had this," Kim said as she jogged down the stairs and pushed something into Tommy's hands and he studied it. He had seen it before, but he couldn't quite place it. He knew that he should be able to, but for some reason he was unable to grasp it right now. "I grabbed it on my way out because it was familiar."

"No," Tommy said as Kim nodded. Mesogogg had planned the entire assault on her, even planted the gem. It wasn't just by chance that she had become evil. He had meant for her to be evil, even if no one else would truly believe that. "Come here, Billy take this."

"Your coin?" Billy questioned and then it hit him; if Mesogogg had had it, he knew about evil properties, long before Kim became evil. He knew what he was doing and how to make something evil that would have otherwise never crossed that particular threshold.

"It's okay," Tommy aid as he brushed the hair out of her face and then kissed her. "I knew that none of the gems were evil to begin with."

"Yeah, but he's more advanced than I expected," Billy said after some simple scans. The technology that he had put into this single gem let him know he was capable of more than they had ever imagined. "He only wanted Kim to be affected, the gem is still perfectly good for someone else to use."

"I love hearing something like that," Kim said as she walked over to the panel and placed her hands on it. "We're back."


	24. Hell Hath No Fury

"What the hell was that?" Demetri asked as their home shuddered and she dared to glance over at Nadrox. She was sure of what it meant, but she didn't want to say anything about it. She didn't want to say the words because that would make it true and she didn't need this sort of truth. She needed something that would tell her that the rangers were weaker, not stronger than they had been a few hours ago. Their chances were quickly diminishing, but they still had not been told to attack. It seemed that no one else in the universe cared that they were about to face the hardest obstacle that had ever been in their path and their chances at succeeding were slimming down quickly.

"They bonded," Nadrox said as Demetri shook her head. This was what they had feared would happen and now it had. When they had first met them, they realized that they were not bonded and had hoped to finish this before they bonded, but they had not been able to do anymore than see them. They had to get a move on, if they had any chance. Every second counted and those precious seconds were quickly ticking away. "We have to get one of them, now."

"I vote him. She's too weak to attempt a rescue on her own. You know that they are the only two that can survive around us," Demetri said as Nadrox nodded. He knew he only had a couple of hours before the magic began to work against them. They had to get him, now or even this would not work for them.

"We need a distraction," Nadrox muttered as Demetri smiled. She knew just the thing and with any luck Mesogogg would already be helping them. It was about time for him to attack them again, which conveniently helped them have a built in distraction.

"I think that Mesogogg will do that for us," Demetri said as she pointed to the screen. The tryannadrones were landing everywhere and the rangers had already arrived, but they knew that Kim and Tommy had stayed behind. They were already conserving their energies for a time when they were going to need to give absolutely everything that they had in them. They knew that much already and that was something that they had hoped to keep from them, for their own safety. "We must go now."

-------------

"What was that?" Jason asked as they distinctly heard something thump down in the cave. They knew that an animal might have just run into it, but he honestly doubted that because of the last day's occurrences. He did not want to go out and check it out, but he knew that one of them was going to have to do that to insure their safety.

"I don't know," Tommy said as he looked up from the screen and over at Kim. He knew that he might be sending her into a bad situation, but he trusted that he could get to her before something happened that would cause him to regret sending her out there. "Will you go check?"

"Yes," Kim said, quietly, as she began towards the door before it was blown off its hinges.

"Kim!" Tommy yelled as she was hit by the door and thrown across the room.

"Nice little place you have here," Nadrox said as Tommy looked over at him. He was pissed right now, no one did that to Kim without some sort of revenge. "You won't be back for awhile."

"What do you mean?" Tommy asked as Nadrox released sleeping gas and within seconds the former rangers were all passed out on the floor.

"Get him before the little rangers return," Demetri said as Nadrox picked Tommy up and they then silently disappeared from the scene.

"Dr. O?" Conner asked as they landed in the Command Center and saw all the former rangers passed out and the door blown off its hinges. This was not something that he had ever expected to see and it honestly worried him that they had not woken up since whatever this was happened to them. "Oh my…"

"Wake them up," Ethan said as he began shoulders and they slowly pulled themselves up, except for Kim. She was refusing to wake up, no matter how hard they tried.

"It's no use," Jason said to stop them from shaking her. He knew just as well as the other older rangers that it was likely to be impossible to wake Kimberly right now. "She'll wake up in her own time, with Tommy away it's nearly impossible for any of us to manage it."

"What happened?" Kira asked as Trini hovered over Kim and watched as an invisible knife slit her wrist. She had never seen anything it before and now she knew that they were in deep trouble. If they could not see what was attacking her, then they definitely couldn't get it to stop.

"Jason…Billy…we've got a problem," Trini said as blood sprayed all over her.

"What the fuck," Billy said as Trini placed all her weight on the cut to stem the flow of blood. She knew that she might only be buying Kim a couple of minutes at this rate, but she had to do what she could. "Kids, get out of here."

"No," Kira said as Kim let out a blood curdling scream and she couldn't help but cringe. She had never heard Kim cry out in pain before and she had had some of the best excuses to do just that. Kim may have moaned and groaned, but this type of scream let all of them know just how much pain she really was in.

"They must be hurting Tommy, it's the only explanation for this," Hayley said as Kim pulled away from them. They knew that she didn't know what she was doing, but if they didn't keep her alive, it was very likely that Tommy would die as well. "Don't fight us."

-----------

"Tough little bastard," Demetri said as Tommy's eyes bolted open and he slung Demetri off him.

"You are the strong one," Nadrox said as Tommy felt this gut wrenching pain and he knew it had to be Kim. He just didn't know what could possibly be happening to her as she was not here with him, unless they had put her in a separate room.

"Let me out of here," Tommy said as Nadrox and Demetri laughed. He had to be crazy to think that they would just let him go without doing him any damage. There was no point to bring him here if they didn't manage to inflict some sort of damage.

"You are ours to torture, now," Nadrox said as Tommy chunked both of them away.

"You want to live to fight another day? Let me go," Tommy said as he pulled out his morpher and motioned that he would kill them as soon as look at them.

"You stand no chance," Nadrox said as Demetri felt a sudden wave of dizziness wash over her. "Demetri…"

"She's dying Nadrox," Demetri said, "And she'll take me with her because you cannot properly injure him."

"Go," Nadrox said as Tommy was slung from his presence and he landed on the road to his house.

"Come on, answer me," Tommy pleaded with his communicator but all he heard was static and he then began to run. He had to make it to her in time, she could not die. "Damn it."

"She stopped," Trini said as Kim gasped in a breath and her eyes bolted open. "Hey, nice to have you back with us."

"It was Tommy, not me getting hurt," Kim said as she pushed herself up and then looked down at her arm.

"It came out through you," Jason said as Kim nodded.

"Tommy is going to hate himself for this," Kim said as Tommy walked into the room and Kim looked up at him. He saw the fresh blood on the ground and immediately ran back through the door and threw up. He was disgusted with himself right now.

"Please tell me I didn't," Tommy muttered as Kim walked over to him and placed her arms around him and he buried his face in the fabric of her shirt. "They didn't even hurt me."

"I'm weaker. Dulcea and Ninjor warned us that the weaker one would take the abuse once we bonded. We just have to get back on an even playing field," Kim said as he just shook his head. This hurt him so much to know that he had been able to do this to her in a matter of minutes. "I'm all right, Tommy. There is no harm done here."

"I'm sorry," Tommy said as his tears slipped out and Kim looked back at the others, who had congregated in the doorway. A few of them had seen Tommy breakdown before and several of them knew that he had just been waiting for the last straw to be pushed and now that it had finally happened, it hurt them all. They hated seeing him hurt like this. He had always been one of the strongest and it was hard to believe that all of this had happened to him.

"It's okay, Tommy. I'm still here, there's no harm done, except for a little bit of blood lost," Kim said as he pulled her as close to him as he could manage.

"It's not right," Tommy choked out as she leaned heavily on him.

"Don't blame yourself," Kim said as her hands carefully skimmed over his shoulders. She did not want for him to get tense at her touch, so she felt that she needed to ease him back into it. He had always had a bad reaction when he had inadvertently hurt her. "There is nothing you could have done once we were bonded. We knew that going into it."

"I could have not bonded us; I could have not risked you," Tommy said as her other friends felt that they could not pry him away although he had practically picked Kim up off the ground.

"You'd be dead if you hadn't done this," Kim said as Tommy looked up at her. "I self heal, they didn't know that. They picked the wrong one to take."

"You fucking self heal?" Jason blurted out as Kim smiled back at him. She had not heard him this mad in a very long time and she didn't blame him. They should have explained her self-healing when they first bonded. "We thought you would die back there."

"Well it's nice to know that you tried to help me, but there's not much that you could have done for us," Kim said as Tommy looked up at the others and she felt him pick her up and turn her around. He wanted to be hidden if it was at all possible.

"That helps you none," Trini said as Kim smiled as he placed her in another position.

"I don't care," Tommy said as Kim sat down on the ground with him.

"Sorry, but my ribs can only take so much," Kim said as Tommy smiled and Conner looked away and walked out. They were fine, he was sure of that. He just didn't think that he could watch much more of this. He had never really thought of them as having any weaknesses, but it was obvious to him that their biggest weakness was each other and he didn't see how it was possible for Nadrox and Demetri to not realize it. It seemed like any idiot would be able to figure it out within a few hours of being around them. "What did it do to you?"

"It made me sick. I hated to know that I hurt you," Tommy said as Kim nodded as Trini sat down next to them and looked between them. She hoped that they would get the idea that they needed to take this conversation out of the entryway, as they were not really protected here.

"Please come inside," Trini said as Tommy managed to nod and Kim then pushed herself back up and walked inside. "The two of you are going to be fun."

"Yeah, we have a lot to explain," Tommy said as Kim sat down on the couch and looked over at him. If he wanted to explain all of this, she was more than willing to let him have as much fun with it as he wanted. "I think it's better to just review it all, otherwise we'll be here forever."

_Flashback_

"That took you no time at all," Ninjor said as Kim and Tommy emerged with their powers fully implemented. It felt wonderful to have these powers back with them, but it still did not explain a lot of the things that had happened to them lately. "How did you manage that?"

"We've see all their tricks before and we have a good memory," Kim said as Tommy smiled and placed his arm around her. He had the feeling that they were about to get some news that neither of them would like. "But I have the feeling that there is much more to this than meets the eye."

"You're right. There is a legendary power that the two of you seem to have brought back into existence. You were predicted to me," Dulcea said as Tommy's eyes widened.

"Predicted?" Tommy managed to strangle out as Kim felt her knees give way and Tommy grabbed her around the waist and held her up. They had known that they were supposed to do something rare, but to be predicted honestly scared them a good deal.

"Yes," Ninjor said as the both of them looked shocked. This was not something that they thought they would ever hear coming from them. "I wished it wouldn't be you. It's not likely that you'll survive."

"Unless they bond," Dulcea said as Ninjor just shook his head. He couldn't do that to them. He knew just how bad it might be for them if they bonded with each other. They would only have the choice of being together and with their track record, he didn't want for them to have to live a lie just to keep the bond happy.

"No, they can't," Ninjor insisted as Dulcea looked over at him. How could he say that? Tommy and Kim were willing to do whatever it took to save the world.

"Let them decide," Dulcea said as Ninjor let out a sigh of frustration.

"Why should we do that?" Ninjor asked as Tommy and Kim just shook their heads. This must be something that was more risky than anything else that they had ever experienced.

"Because we'll be taking the risk, we should know what might help us and then we should weigh the risks, not you," Tommy said as Ninjor showed them a picture of a sword and Tommy looked at it.

"Why should this happen?" Ninjor asked no one in particular.

"Because we choose it," Kim said as Ninjor nodded.

"You explain it since you want it," Ninjor said as Dulcea took the picture and just looked back.

"You must exchange blood in front of the others. Then your true ranger powers will be released. The drawback is that if one of you dies, the other will die as well. It doesn't matter when you quit being rangers, it will still exist, even if you start hating each other again. You'll be stuck together, no matter what," Dulcea said as Tommy nodded.

"How much of a chance is there that we'll go now?" Kim asked as Dulcea walked away. She didn't want to think about that. She didn't want to lie to them and tell them that they were guaranteed to make it out, when they weren't. It was going to take a true sacrifice for them to survive this ordeal. "No."

"You're the only ones that could possibly do this and it may take you dying to take them out," Dulcea said as Tommy wrapped her up in a tight hug. He did not like thinking that they might lose each other after just getting each other back. "The bond is the only chance that you'll both make it out of this."

"I know," Ninjor said as the two of them looked at him. Him conceding that they would die if they didn't find some help, was not something that either of them wanted to hear.

"I guess we don't have a choice," Tommy said as Kim nodded.

"Just be careful," Dulcea said as Kim and Tommy nodded. They knew that the stakes had just been raised to a point that none of them had ever seen before and they were not exactly happy about that.

_End of Flashback_

"You know that you're a horrible liar," Conner said as Kim and Tommy looked over at him and then he looked down. Obviously this was not something to joke about, even if he really thought that it was a lie. If they had been predicted, wouldn't they have been told what was going on before now?

"You have a lot to learn," Jason said as Tommy handed Conner a coin and he looked at it, completely confused. He had no clue what it was, but all of the others knew that it was Tommy's power coin.

"You want the responsibility? Because I'll give it up right now and let you take it all. I don't want to die anymore than the next person," Tommy said as Conner shook his head no. He didn't think that he would be able to live with this sort of thing. He couldn't do what was being asked of them, he didn't have enough experience to even try it. "Then don't think it's made up. Our legends have haunted us for years. Be grateful that you have none pertaining to you."

"It just seems odd that you had these powers years ago and now you get them back and are more powerful than ever," Conner said as Tommy and Kim looked at each other.

"We never really lost these, but we had to replace them, I'm confused as to why, to be honest with you," Tommy said as Billy smiled. He understood it all too well, but he didn't think he needed to explain it to him.

"Some of the new rangers weren't receptive, so Zordon had to find you another power source," Billy explained as Tommy merely nodded in thanks. He didn't have the patience to remember some things that Billy stored away from years.

"But the two of you make up a legend. Is that even possible?" Ethan asked as Kim walked over to a chair and sat down. This explanation was going to take awhile.

"We were predicted, but they didn't know when or who would come to them. It seems that only Zordon knew it would be us," Tommy said as he looked over at Billy for some type of conformation.

"I think that Zordon only knew after he saw the two of you together at Murianthius. There was something about that mission that shook him so much that he called all of us in. Something must have marked you then, but none of us knew what it was. None of us were even really sure that Zordon had gotten the whole thing right," Jason said as Billy walked over to the computer and began punching in various codes.

"What are you thinking, Billy?" Kim asked as the clicks began being rapidly fired away.

"That you were marked before then. There is an old picture on here if I can just find it. I saw it while I was waiting for some information to download from the old command center," Billy said as he continued scanning through everything he could find. It had never occurred to him that the picture was odd, but now it made sense. "Here it is."

"We're teleporting, why is that important?" Tommy asked as Kim walked up behind him and looked at the picture. She could remember it, but it was only a faint memory for her.

"I must have lost my powers then," Kim said as Billy shook his head no and then pointed to a light pink streak in the otherwise white column.

"You're there with him. It was the last time you ever teleported together," Billy said as Kim shook her head in denial, but Tommy smiled. He had remembered Zordon showing this to him and telling him that Kim was only a heartbeat away and now he understood it.

"I should have known when he told me," Tommy said as he shook his head, as Kim gave him a confused look. "Zordon showed it to me after we broke up. He said that you'd always be part of me, even our powers showed it. I thought it was after you left, but then I remember you and Kat switched; we never went without a pink ranger. Zordon wouldn't answer how it happened then; he said I'd find out in time."

"And ten years later, you do," Kim said with a smile as he ran his fingers over the scab on her wrist. He was glad that she was still alive, but it did worry him that it had not even affected him. What would happen to them in battle if he was hurt and she took the brunt of it?

"Yeah, but my time frame was a little bit more frantic back then," Tommy said as Kim nodded. The hell they had been through seemed to always make them more honest about their time apart.

"You don't think that they're working with Mesogogg do you?" Kira asked as Kim shook her head no. She could be certain of that much. "Why not?"

"I would have known about them by now. Mesogogg has been after me for the greater part of a decade, I know more about him than what I've been able to tell you," Kim said as Tommy passed her a note pad. "I guess I had better start telling you, considering the circumstances."

"They're going to have to do it on their own," Tommy said as he knew what their concentration must now be on the two demons that had landed in front of them. "That reminds me, you have school tomorrow, don't you?"

"Yeah and you're not coming back," Kira said as Tommy merely nodded. He had no other explanation to give them. They knew his reasons.

"I start next Monday," Tommy said as the older rangers gave him a confused look. "I'm coming back to Angel Grove; it was time to come home."

"And you're brining a monster with you," Jason said, shaking his head at how things seemed. This was not the type of news that Angel Grove really needed right now.

"It's a full circle, it's completing everything that we've done," Trini said as Jason nodded. He had never thought of that, but it was not in his nature to think of such a thing. Trini, however, had always had a knack for this sort of thing and it was something that they all loved about her. When they needed a soothing explanation, they went to her and right now two of their own needed to be soothed more than ever before.


	25. The Replacements

School seems so different now that we know that Dr. O isn't coming back. His replacement does not believe in fun or even attempting to teach us something that actually do us some good. She is by the book and usually winds up reading out of that same book to us most days. I think I can understand wanting to go back home, there is a great wanting to go back home, but there is a great expense to actually get him here with us, considering that he is helping Kim so much right now. I know that their responsibilities have to be tire some, but they seem to be the only ones that can do it and we are the only ones that can take on the ranger mantle here.

"Conner!" Meagan yelled as she ran up to him in the hall. He had been slipping away every time he saw her lately and she was going to make him talk now. She needed to talk to him, it was the only way that she would make any progress with this situation. He was falling out with all of his friends and she couldn't allow that to happen. He had to come back to his senses or things were going to get ugly.

"Oh, hey, Meagan," Conner said as he closed his locker and started towards his next class. No he didn't enjoy math, but he had no choice about taking it and he didn't want to catch hell from Kira for not showing up. Ever since they had started dating, he had become more of his true self and he did not regret her for a minute. His friends may think that he was crazy, but he was willing to lose some of them if they weren't willing to understand.

"Why don't you just skip and come with us?" Meagan suggested as Conner shook his head no and continued on his way. He knew that Kira and Dr. O would kill him if he started acting like the sports star that he was. The rangers had all been rather popular in high school, but they never skipped classes, they knew what would happen if they did. They had a certain responsibility to uphold and they had passed on that tradition to their own rangers. "Conner, when did you become an uptight asshole?""I've changed, accept it and maybe you'll find out that Ethan and Kira are not so bad, you just need to give them a chance. They're more than willing to do the same for you," Conner said as Phillip walked up and put his arm around Meagan. He thought that maybe the two of them were finally working out their problems. "I hope the two of you have fun."

"What…Conner…" Phillip said as Conner just walked away. His friends deserved at least this for what they had done to Kira lately. It had taken all of his self control not to go beat the living crap out of them, but he still wanted believe that they could change. He had to have that hope that his friends were not so close-minded that they could not even attempt to accept the girl he was falling for.

"He's determined that they're cool," Meagan said as Phillip just nodded. He had been able to actually talk to Conner and he was happy with the people that he had chosen as his friends. What could they possibly do to stop that?

"And he's probably right. We should give it a chance, think about everything that we have made him do lately. He just needs friends, not people who want him to be something that he isn't," Phillip said as Meagan shook her head. She hated that idea, but there was nothing she could do to make him change his mind and she also knew that he was right. If they didn't try to accept them, they were going to lose Conner as their friend.

--------------

"Hey, Kira, I'll catch up with you later. I've got to practice before I can come to Hayley's," Conner said as Kira nodded and then gave him a hug. He had walked her this far, but she knew that he had to go. They had been worried for the last couple of days that Mesogogg was going to launch a major attack, but so far they had been lucky. They just hoped that it would keep up a little while longer.

"You better win with all this practice that they have been putting you through lately," Kira said as Conner nodded. That was exactly his thinking right now. The coach had given them the afternoon off, but they still had to go because the team captain 'strongly suggested' that they showed up. All that meant was that it was mandatory practice, without the coach around.

"I'll be there as soon as I can," Conner said as he ran off in the direction of the soccer field and Kira watched him go.

"Kira…" Meagan said, tentatively, as she approached her and Kira slowly looked over her shoulder. She did not want to have to deal with some lecture about how Conner didn't deserve her again. She just wanted to get to Hayley's and listen to Ethan ramble about some stupid computer game. "I'm not going to kill you."

"I don't understand why you are here though. You hate me, I don't need that forced into my brain anymore," Kira said as Meagan looked around and then in the direction that Conner had gone.

"Conner means a lot to me, I guess I have to get you know you, at the very least," Meagan said as Kira gave her skeptical look and just nodded. She didn't know how true this was, but she knew it was tearing Conner up to have to choose between her and the friends that he had had for years.

"It would mean a lot to him for you to do that," Kira said as Meagan sat down at the picnic table and Kira sat down across from her.

"So what do you have that I don't?" Meagan asked as Kira looked over at her and started to stand up. She did not want to have to deal with this sort of conversation. It honestly pissed her off that she would even start it. "Kira, I don't mean it like that…I just never pictured that this would happen."

"Things changed and I…we became more than we ever were before. I don't have anything that you don't I just…we just…we fit," Kira managed to mumble as Meagan looked over at her. She had never been able to say anything like that about their relationship, Conner had always been uncomfortable with her. They were fine as friends, but e every time they did more than kiss, it pushed him over the edge. He wanted to be polite, but she could tell it was not his favorite activity, so they broke up and went back to being friends.

"He's lucky," Meagan said as Kira just looked at Meagan, what was going on here? She didn't expect that from her. She expected to be ranted at about taking Conner away from her, again and she didn't have the patience for that today.

"Who changed your mind about me?" Kira asked as Meagan looked over her shoulder as Phillip walked up and she smiled.

"Conner made his point all too well today. I can't lose him as a friend, Kira and that means I have to try to be friends with you. I can't do what I've been doing anymore. He's too good of a friend to throw it away over a girl that I don't understand," Meagan said as Kira's face lit up and she looked over towards the field and saw the smoke. She knew what that meant and she knew that she had to get moving, quickly. There was a chance that Conner had absolutely no help and that was not a good thing right now.

"No," Kira said as her expression changed and she jumped up and ran towards the field. She knew that Conner was going to need some help with whatever had showed up in the last few seconds.

"What's that about?" Meagan asked as Phillip just shook his head. He didn't know what it could possibly be. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No, I think it's the smoke that made her runaway from you," Phillip said as Meagan barely nodded. That definitely made her just a little bit queasy as well. She knew that Conner was in that general direction and that would certainly make her run after him, if she had been his girlfriend.

"Maybe we should go help them," Meagan said as Phillip just shook his head. He felt that he would worry them far too much if they were there as well. They needed to stay out of trouble and away from whatever was going on. "Come on, Conner could be in trouble.""And he doesn't need us there if he is, we'd just be one more thing for him to worry about. He needs to be able to think straight in order to get out of all of this," Phillip said as Meagan shook her head and then ran off, leaving him no choice, but to follow. He was not going to let her go to her death alone.

"Conner!" Kira yelled as she saw him fly through the air and land next to a car. "Are you okay?"

"I've been better," Conner muttered as he stood up and pulled out his morpher. "I'm glad that you came. I was starting to worry that I would be alone, our communicators are on the fritz right now. We've got to get Hayley to fix them."

"I was talking with Meagan and I saw the smoke, sorry it took me so long to get here," Kira said as Conner morphed and she soon followed him. Unfortunately, Meagan and Phillip arrived in time to see them transform. They couldn't help but be shocked as the people they knew became something that they never thought they would be.

"Holy crap," Meagan said as Kira looked her way for a brief second before throwing a tryannadrone into a wall.

"Get out of here!" Kira yelled as Conner was t-boned by the monster and she ran over to him thinking that she would not have to worry about the others. They surely would heed her warning after seeing their friend be thrown around like a rag doll and leave this place without a second thought.

"Oh no!" Meagan yelled as they were blown into the air and she was held back by Phillip.

"We need to get out of here, we are no help to them, especially with no powers," Phillip said as three rangers materialized only a few feet away from them.

"Tommy no," Kim said as she grabbed his arm and pulled him back. She wanted to see what the other rangers could do by themselves, they were going to have to be working by themselves a lot more from now on.

"Oliver, so nice to see you come out to play," Zeltrax said as Tommy glared over at him and Meagan and Phillip just stood there in shock. They could no longer try to move, they had just heard something that made them think that things were really crazy. That could not possibly be Dr. Oliver in that suit. He was in Angel Grove and it was impossible for him to get here this quickly.

"Kim go help them. I'll take care of him," Tommy said as he walked over and began going after Zeltrax, with a new vengeance. He was getting tired of wasting his energy on these monsters, when he and Kim have much bigger fish to fry. Demetri and Nadrox were still out there and although they had not shown themselves lately, that still did not comfort Tommy. He knew that they were still a deadly pair to the two of them. "Kids, get out of here!"

"I got them, Tommy," Kim said as she ran towards the two teenagers and practically dragged them away from the entire scene. She could not understand why they were sitting around sightseeing. "There is no need to sight see, get inside something, quickly."

"You've got to be kidding, we just saw Dr. O show up. What the hell is this?" Meagan asked as Kim spared her one glance before running back over to help Tommy, who was struggling with Zeltrax.

"We've got trouble, Tommy," Kim said as she began beating on the monster in front of them. "Those two know who you are."

"Yeah, I was there teacher, I would expect it," Tommy said as Kim just shook her head and he gave her a confused look. What was she talking about then? There was no way that they could know that he was a Power Ranger

"They know that it's you in this suit," Kim said as the earth shook and the two of them fell to the ground and watched as the tryannadrones and Zeltrax disappeared. Obviously, this was real earthquake, not something that a monster had manifested and that saved them from continuing in a fight that would surely push them to their limits.

"Are you okay?" Conner asked as they ran over to the two veteran rangers and watched as Kim and Tommy both rolled over and slowly stood up. They could see that they were going to be sore the next day, but that was something that they could deal with.

"We're fine," Tommy said as Kim crawled over to him and he wrapped his arms around her. "Are your friends still here?"

"No, I don't know where they went," Conner said as Kim looked up at Tommy and he then teleported them to the Command Center. They had far too much to talk about and he didn't want for most of this to get out in the open, not yet at least.

"This isn't good, Tommy," Kim said as Tommy looked over at her and then looked away. He had to agree that this was not an ideal situation, but he couldn't do anything about it. They had heard and maybe even seen Kira and Conner. They knew that they were rangers and now they had to decide what to do with them.

"They saw, there is nothing we can do about it," Tommy said, simply, as Kim looked over at him, slightly concerned. He looked so tired and she knew that everything that had happened was pressing on him far too much. He needed some relief, he needed to be able to be a normal person for a little while, but he didn't have that right now.

"You honestly think that they saw us?" Conner asked as Tommy sat down and just tried to think this all out. Meagan and Phillip had to have seen them. That was the only thing that would have kept them there and also made them mutter aloud about the two elder rangers' identities.

"It may not be such a bad thing, we need more rangers and they're both able bodied enough to manage to become rangers as well," Ethan said as Tommy and Kim exchanged a glance. This thought process was coming from their genius, but it was still hard to put that all together without a lot of experience as a ranger.

"Bring them here," Tommy finally announced as Kim gave him a shocked look. "We might as well give them the gems, we don't need them anymore."

"Yeah, you do have a point," Kim said as Conner looked between the two of them. Something was definitely going on that they didn't know about. "We have to get back soon, so will you hurry?"

"Why are you in such a hurry to leave?" Conner asked as Tommy walked over to the panel and just teleported Meagan and Phillip in.

"I don't know, maybe because I still have school tomorrow and I need some sleep," Tommy said, as he did not want to mention their training sessions with Ninjor to them. It was something that only the two of them seemed to truly understand.

"What the hell," Meagan said as she slowly turned around. This place far exceeded any expectations she had had for a Power Ranger station.

"We don't have a lot of time," Kim began as Tommy walked over to her and Meagan and Phillip just stood there. "We have an appointment."

"What kind of appointment?" Meagan asked, curiously, as Kim just looked up at Tommy.

"Look, we don't have time, actually we need to be going right now. Conner, bring them up to speed and ask them. If they want to be rangers we'll meet up here tomorrow, but we have to go," Kim said as Tommy grabbed her hand and they teleported away.

"Bring them up to speed," Conner muttered to himself as he looked over at his friends. "I don't think this is going to help you any, but here we go. Dr. O was a ranger some eight to ten years ago and has been one off and on since then. The being that we are fighting has been after Kimberly for years, because of Dr. O. We have these gems that give us power and we are offering you the two spots that they vacated."

"You want us to be rangers?" Meagan managed to sputter out as Conner nodded his head yes. He had honestly expected this sort of shock from them. It was not a normal thing to be asked by your friend, no matter how close you are. It didn't make sense to put them in danger, but they really had no choice but to ask, since they had discovered them.

"That's the basic idea. Look, we'll give you the night to think it over, we all need to get home and get some rest. Today was pretty rough on us," Conner said as he teleported all of them to the back room of Hayley's Cyberspace. "We're heading out the back and you might want to do that before you actually go in, we don't need to be too suspicious."

"Okay," Phillip said as he looked over at Meagan and they all headed out.

"We'll see you tomorrow," Kira said as the three rangers walked away and the two formerly normal people just watched as they went. Today had changed their outlook on life and it had also changed the way that they were going to handle everything from this day forward.


	26. Painful Practices

"How are you doing?" Tommy asked as he walked over to the couch with a heating pad in his arms, which he plugged in before sitting down next to Kim and handing it to her. They were both completely exhausted from the training that they had just experienced. Ninjor was definitely pushing them to places that they had never been with their ranger powers before. They were sure that it would benefit them eventually, but right now their bodies were taking a beating and they were having a hard time bouncing back from it all. They just didn't have it in them like they used to and hopefully Ninjor would realize that very soon.

"I'm hurt Tommy," Kim said as she laid down on the heating pad, hoping that it would soothe her muscles. She usually couldn't tell until the next morning that something was wrong, but today, she knew that things were wrong the moment that she came back home. Her body had been aching from the moment that Ninjor started fighting her and now she was just in pain. She knew that this was not normal, but she also knew that she had been very lucky so far and didn't need to complain about this, at all. Tommy had had some bad days and she hadn't had one until now, so they were no where near equal, although it seemed that it never only affected one of them when they were hurt.

"You want some Aleve or Tylenol?" Tommy asked as he ran his fingers through her hair and she removed her glasses and passed them to him so that he could put them on the table. She wanted to relax, but the pain was not allowing her to do that right now. She just hoped that having bury vision would make her be able to focus her energy into something else and hopefully get her muscles to relax.

"It's not going to help, it never does with these sort of injuries, we both know that. We've been through this way too many times. We should definitely ask Billy to try to come up with something that would help us. He might be able to help us out with everything that he knows," Kim said as he just looked at her. That let him know that she was uncomfortable to the point that medicine wouldn't help her anymore and he hated that sort of thing. He knew that her body was on the verge of breaking and he did not want for that to happen. They both needed to stay strong so that Demetri and Nadrox could not get an upper hand on either of them.

"Let me up," Tommy said as Kim lifted her head off his lap just enough that he was able to stand up. He then scooped her up and carried her into her bedroom, as she still insisted that they need separate ones, although they usually fell asleep together in one room or the other. They just didn't want to make the final step of moving into the same room, it would make some things more obvious than they wanted them to be right now. They needed to keep some of their life a secret, for everyone's sake. There were just some things that none of the others needed to know about.

"What are you going to do?" Kim asked as he placed her on the bed and then left again. She couldn't tell where he had gone, but she did not want him to go tonight. She wanted him to stay with her. "Tommy…"

"I'll be right back, I just need to unplug the heating pad. I don't want it burning down the entire building," Tommy said as Kim just shook her head. Their training session this evening had been hell for her, as Ninjor tested her body again and again, trying to find a way to push over the edge and he had. She knew that the stiffness she felt now was going to kill her in the morning, if she could even sit up in the morning. It had been years since she had been like this and she just wanted for it to be over with as soon as humanly possible. "Roll over."

"Tommy…" Kim began to complain, but stopped as he tugged off her t-shirt and she then rolled over without asking anymore questions. Any time he removed clothing, she knew that she was in for some sort of treat.

"Where exactly does it hurt?" Tommy asked as Kim pointed to her lower back and he began to slowly rub the knots out. She had been stressed out a lot lately, but usually he didn't have to massage it out. However, the few times that he did, he found out that it was a very good way to get Kimberly to sleep.

"Oh," Kim moaned as Tommy smiled down at her and he watched as her eyes began to slowly close. She was in too much pain to fight sleep tonight and he could only hope that her sleep would be fine without him tonight. He needed to go back to the Command Center to check some things before he could turn in and although he slept great with her, he knew that tonight he needed to be alone. He needed to be able to think clearly about everything that had manifested over the last few hours. He was not sure how some things were going to work out and he just had to think it out, as soon as he could. "Don't go, Tommy."

"How'd you know?" Tommy asked as Kim rolled over and looked up at him. He was just a blur, but she knew that he was confused at how she had been able to figure out his little plan.

"Oh, I don't know, this is your favorite way to get me to sleep and then leave and go sleep somewhere else," Kim said as Tommy couldn't help but smile. She was right about that. He always did this when he needed to have some time alone and didn't want to ask her for it. "Go do what you have to do, but promise me that you'll come back here. I just want you here tonight. I'm going to need you to be here for me."

"Okay," Tommy agreed as Kim rolled over and quickly drifted off to sleep, which was exactly what he hoped would happen. She needed the rest after today and he had known that it would take everything out of him to get her to sleep without him being there.

--------------

"I thought that I'd see you down here tonight," Hayley said as Tommy landed in the Command Center and Hayley looked at him in shock. He looked like he had been steamrolled this evening. She knew better than to ask about what had happened during his practice this afternoon. The last time that she tried that, she got the silent treatment from him for weeks. Whatever they were having to do, was much worse than anything Tommy had voluntarily put himself through before and she wondered if it was the same for Kimberly as well. "It was cruel to leave Conner to explain that to them. You should have explained it yourself."

"I didn't have a choice. Ninjor doesn't exactly wait when he says that we have practice at a certain time. Do you think that they needed to see him show up here their first day as rangers? We couldn't risk them saying no, we need their help far too much," Tommy said as Hayley watched him as he began punching in all sorts of information that he had gathered lately along with everything that he had been able to pull out of Kim. She had been reluctant to talk about all of the attacks that she had been through, but she saw the necessity in them knowing. They needed this sort of knowledge in order for them to be able to survive without their help, because it was about to be nonexistent.

"Why is it so important that you put yourself through all of this?" Hayley asked as Tommy just looked over at her. He really didn't have too much time to explain it before Kim came here and she was not in very good condition to be up on her feet. He needed to guarantee that she would get some good rest tonight, because they were going to be asked to do the same thing tomorrow. He knew that Ninjor was afraid that they would meet Nadrox and Demetri and not be ready, but he was not scared of that. He was more scared that they would meet them when they were thoroughly exhausted from a work out session.

"We kinda have to save the entire world from being annilated by a being that only we can defeat, so that means us having to prepare for all sorts of things. There's no telling what is going to happen to bring us to the battle that we'll fight," Tommy said as Hayley looked down at him as Tommy continued clicking away.

"Don't get mad at me, Tommy, I'm just saying what they are going to say to you tomorrow and they are going to be even more harsh. You know that teenagers are unforgiving about this sort of thing, especially when they don't understand most of it to begin with," Hayley said as Tommy looked over at her. Had she missed the fact that he had been a ranger himself? He did not need to be preached to about how teenagers would react, he had been there and done that. He knew exactly how they would react and with any luck it would be just a tad bit nicer than the way that he reacted to the entire situation when he had first found out he was a good ranger, not a bad one anymore.

"Honey, let them try their best. I've had to deal with Kim, so guess what, I've already been through a hell of a lot more questions about various situations. They can try their damndest, but they aren't going to be able to beat her, unless they manage to just catch some of her vibe and some of them might do that," Tommy said as Hayley sighed. She didn't want to talk with Tommy about this anymore. He was being too damn stubborn right now.

"I guess that I don't need to talk to you about this Tommy, you seem like you are emotional right now," Hayley said as Tommy looked over at her. If she only knew that half of the situation, she would not be saying that right now. He was not emotional, he was stressed out beyond any point that he had ever been before.

"Hayley, I had to massage Kim's back just to get her to go to sleep and we are both exhausted right now. That lets you know just how bad she's hurting from our practice. I don't know how much longer we can keep doing this to ourselves," Tommy said as Hayley gave him a hard look. "We need to fight them and get this over with so that we can go on with our lives."

"When are you going to marry her Tommy?" Hayley asked as Tommy looked over at her. He hadn't even talked to Jason about it, except mentioning that they would probably be married within the year. He was not sure if he was ready to talk with Hayley about it yet. She was no Jason, even if they were friends, really good friends. He just couldn't bring himself to say something that would truly say how he felt and everything that no one else should know.

"It'll happen one day, Hayley. I just want to make sure that I'll be alive before I ask that of her. If I go, she goes and I can't deal with that sort of idea. I don't want to give her that sort of hope and then the both of us have it dashed," Tommy said as Hayley just looked over at him. She couldn't believe that Tommy was talking about this, especially this way. It was like he didn't even believe that he would make it through the next few months. Whatever that was supposed to happen to the two of them was something that they would not be able to comprehend, even if they told them about it. It was too harsh to truly bring up and they knew that it was useless to ask, even if they wanted to help. No one could help them this time and that hurt. It was hard to see two people that you loved being put through this sort of hell.

"Tommy, how many more one days do you think that she will take that kind of bull shit from you. Hasn't she waited long enough?" Hayley pressed as Tommy just turned away from the computer and looked at her.

"Didn't I wait long enough when she was protecting all of us?" Tommy asked as Hayley looked over at him. Curious that he was talking badly about her, he never talked badly about her.

"Tommy, you almost sound bitter, but you're not. We both know that," Hayley said as Tommy just shook his head. He was absolutely tired and he needed to get some rest. Whether or not it was in Kim's bed, he didn't care. He needed to sleep or he would not make it tomorrow. School had been rough enough this week and tomorrow, which was Friday, was going to be hell. He knew that he was not going to be able to get out of bed, at all without some encouragement.

"You're right, I'm not bitter, but I know just how bad it is. I know that if I give her false hope, she'll never make it back to herself. She still isn't there, Hayley. She's just good at acting like she is. You should know that much about her by now. She can hide everything better than anyone you know, she can even fool me when she tries hard enough. I love her, but right now neither of us needs any added pressures our lives are screwed up enough without having to face that," Tommy said as Hayley stared at him. She was shocked that he had been able piece all of that together. "Well, I'm done with my information dump. It's time I get back to her, I don't want to wake up to a mad wi…girlfriend."

"Tommy, what the hell was that?" Hayley asked as he disappeared and Hayley just looked around, in disbelief. Had he just slipped up and called Kimberly his wife? Was there something going on that none of them knew about? "I hope he just said that by accident. I hope it's not true because I don't think the other rangers can take it."


	27. Oops

Tommy turned his head and looked over at the clock. He absolutely could not believe that he had to get out of bed and that he had to go to school. Kim had wrapped herself up around him and he knew that if he disentangled himself that he was going to cause her a world of pain. She looked like she hadn't moved since he came back and he was sure that her body was going to reel with pain when she did. He didn't want to be the one to do that to her, but he had to go to work or he was likely to get fired. The principal at Angel Grove had gone out on a limb to hire him and he didn't want to make the man regret that so soon, especially with everything else that was sure to happen.

"Beautiful, wake up honey," Tommy said as she slowly looked up at him and he felt her body stiffen against his as her eyes met his and he read exactly what she was feeling. He hated seeing this from her. He hated knowing that he could not take away the pain that she was feeling. "I'm sorry, but I have to take a shower before I go to school. I'll post a sign that classes are cancelled, baby you can't do it today. Your body needs some rest."

She was in more pain than she had been in, in a couple of years and that solidified in Tommy's mind that he was going to have to convince Ninjor to ease up on her for the next few days. She had to have some time to heal, as they were not as young as they had once been. Their bodies simply could not take the abuse as well as it had been able to ten years ago and he was going to have to learn to deal with that. If he couldn't, then they were going to have to somehow manage to decrease the amount of lessons that they had, because there was no way they could continue to live like this.

"It'll work itself out, I need to work, Tommy. I just started the classes here a couple of weeks ago. I can't risk cancelling classes so soon, all it will do is lose the few customers that I have," Kim said as she tried to push herself off him and she collapsed against him. It was hopeless right now, but that didn't mean that she was not going to try. She had this stubborn streak in her that could rarely be conquered once she set her mind to something.

"No, Kimberly, take some time to rest, you need it. We've got to be ready for whatever the hell might happen and that's a lot of things right now. I don't want for you to have to go out there hurt," Tommy said as he picked her up and laid her back on the bed. He did not want to disturb her anymore. "I'll help you get up after my shower. I think that I'm going to have to massage that out before you can even try to sit up."

"I can get up, it'll just take a little while," Kim said as she rolled over and then tried to sit up, but her body wouldn't stop hurting. It wouldn't quit and if Tommy hadn't come back last night, she wouldn't have slept. He had been the only thing to take her there. While he was gone, she had just faked sleep, but almost as soon as he crawled back into bed with her she had fallen back to sleep.

"Let me do this for you, I can even teach the beginners class this afternoon for you if you want so badly to not cancel class. I know enough to do that, just wait for me to come back," Tommy said as he walked away and into the bathroom. He couldn't help but study the floor as he went, his body was aching and he was tired, but he knew that Kim was going to have to take some time off. He just had to convince her that this was for her own good and that it was not something that needed to be fooled around with.

--------------

"Tommy…" Kim muttered as she felt someone run their fingers through her hair and she looked up, expecting him to be out of the shower already. It was something that Tommy would do when he felt that she needed comfort from him or when he thought she was asleep and he could just look at her.

"I wish I was Tommy," Nadrox said as Kim rolled over and just looked at him. She couldn't believe that this was happening. He had a lot of nerve to pull something like this with Tommy so close by.

"Tommy!" Kimberly screamed as Nadrox just held her down, trying to get her to be quiet before he came in. Tommy jumped out of the shower when he heard the noise and ran out into the room. He slung Nadrox away and pulled Kim into the bathroom, slammed the door and looked back at Nadrox.

"Only she would make you jump like that," Nadrox taunted as Tommy just shook his head. He had not even had time to grab a towel and he was streaming water everywhere, but he knew that he had to get the man to leave as soon as he possibly could. He had just hurt his wife more than he ever thought he would.

"Another place, another time. Get out of my house," Tommy whispered as Nadrox just stared at him. He could feel the fury building and he did not want to hear this right now. "Get out of my house!"

"You might want to hide that wedding ring, people will get suspicious of the two of you," Nadrox said as he went away and Tommy looked down at his necklace as he walked back over to the bathroom. He honestly didn't care if Nadrox and Demetri figured it out. They already knew that they were bonded and it would just make more sense this way.

"Tommy…" Kim cried as he kneeled down next to her and wrapped her up in a strong hug. He could see the pain etched across her features and he absolutely hated seeing her when she was like this.

"It's okay, I'm here, it's okay," Tommy whispered as he kissed her temple and scooped her up. "Do you mind staying at the Command Center today?"

"No, Tommy," Kim whispered back as she pulled him close and he felt her trembling. "I'll be safer there."

"I love you, Mrs. Oliver," Tommy said as his lips brushed hers and he then pulled away. He didn't want to let himself get carried away right now. if he did, then things were likely to happen that didn't need to happen right now. "Let me get dressed and I'll teleport you before I have to go to work. You should be fine there."

"Thank you Tommy," Kim said as she felt around on the bedside table for her glasses as he walked around the room and got dressed. "You know we have to tell the others soon."

"Kim, if we tell the others, do you know how they are going to react when they figure out that we left them out of our wedding?" Tommy asked as Kim used the wall to prop herself up. She was in pain, she didn't care and she was not going to put on a shirt that would hide the ring on her necklace. She knew it would cause questions, but they were going to have to deal with all of it.

"Our parents were there, what else do we need?" Kim said as Tommy picked her up and carried her over to the nearest teleportation portal.

"We need to be safe, Nadrox and Demetri don't need to find out this sort of thing, you know that," Tommy said as they landed in the Command Center and Hayley walked over to them, surprised that they would show up this early in the morning.

"Tommy, why did you slip up and say that Kim was your wife last night?" Hayley asked as Kim looked up at Tommy with a smile on her face. So he was having a hard time with it too.

"Oh, so even you are having a hard time with it. Mr. 'We need to continue to keep this a secret'," Kim said as Tommy smiled and then walked over to Hayley, where he placed Kim in a chair.

"I'll explain it all when I come back tonight, so that I can just tell everyone at once," Tommy said as Kim gave him a hug and he had to teleport away.

"You're kidding me, right?" Hayley said as she pulled at the necklace around Kim's neck and looked at it. If that was a wedding ring, then Tommy hadn't been mistaking something, he had been hiding something from all of them lately.

"I'm in too much pain right now, Hayley to try to explain it. Can I hobble up to the bedroom and try to get some rest? I can barely move anymore," Kim said as Hayley nodded and watched as the pink ranger pushed herself up and then promptly collapsed. Her entire body reeled and she was feeling sick. She just wanted Tommy to be there with her. Why did he have to go to work today? "God, I need Tommy."

"Let me help you," Hayley said as Kim managed to stand up and leaned heavily on Hayley. She had seen the woman in pain before, but it was absolutely nothing like this. She could not help but wonder what had happened for her to be like this, but she knew that it was nearly impossible to figure something like this out without either of them being willing to say anything about it. "Are you okay?"

"Does it look like I'm okay Hayley?" Kim asked as Hayley just looked over at Kim, she knew the answer to that question and she knew Kim didn't want to hear it. "Neither of us thought that we'd have to tell you this so soon. We were going to wait until we could have a real ceremony after all of this is over. I'm not going to get pregnant, Hayley."

"That's what you say," Hayley whispered as Kim looked over at her. She really did not feel up to arguing about what was going on right now, but she was going to have to explain why she was certain of that particular problem not popping up. It was not something that most newlyweds could guarantee, but they could do that right now.

"We still haven't had sex Hayley. We've both been far too exhausted to even attempt a sexual interlude and considering the fact that I can barely move right now, I know we won't be able to for a few more weeks. He's too afraid about it, hurting me is something that he doesn't like to do," Kim said as Hayley just looked at her. She knew that Kim was in a lot of pain, but she couldn't believe that neither of them had had sex yet. She had always been sure that Tommy had had sex with someone, she just didn't know who the woman was.

"Tell me something that I can believe, I wouldn't doubt that the two of you had sex in high school," Hayley said as Kim walked over and sat down on the couch, actually it was more like collapsed onto the couch, needing some relief for having walked up the stairs. She couldn't ever truly remember being like this before, but she did not want to have to admit that to Tommy. If she did, then she knew that he would not let her do anything for a long time.

"Do you think I am bragging about not having sex? I've wanted the man since our wedding night, but we haven't been able to because of everything else that we have dealt with and no, we didn't have sex in high school. God knows that I wanted to and so did he, but neither of us was willing to push the other to the point where there was no return," Kim said as Hayley barely nodded. There was really nothing else that she could do, as this was not something she was exactly excited to talk with Kimberly about.

"You know where everything is, nothing has changed too much," Hayley said as Kim just lay on the couch and then stretched for the remote control. "I'm not going to be back until this afternoon."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine until then. Tommy is only a push of a button away, if something happens to me. I should be able to handle it until he gets here, somehow," Kim said as Hayley merely nodded and then went back upstairs to finish getting ready for the day.

---------------

"What could Tommy possibly have to tell all of us?" Billy asked as Jason and Trini looked at each other and then quickly looked away. They had a feeling about what it could be. They had gotten suspicious over the last few weeks, but they didn't want to tell the others. It was really only Kim and Tommy's business to tell, if they ever decided that the time was right to tell everyone about their one true secret.

"I'm sure that we'll find out soon enough," Kat said as they walked into the Command Center and saw two new teenagers. They had never imagined that they would bring in two more people. They had thought that they would simply be satisfied with the three that they had and would just work with them, to get them up to where they needed to be.

"It must be something major for all of you to be here," Conner said as Kim rolled over on the couch and just looked over at all of them. Her back ache had worked out some during the day, but it was not nearly enough for her to be up and walking around a lot.

"I'm going to kill him. I am going to kill him," Kim whispered as Jason smiled over at her and then picked Kim up and sat her down on one side of the couch, so that all of them could try to cram in on it. They, obviously, had not figured out how much pain that she was in and she didn't want for that to happen, but she knew that it was going to eventually. "Jase…"

"What happened to you?" Trini asked as Kim slumped over and then managed to prop herself up, but it was taking a great deal of effort to keep herself upright.

"Ninjor gave us the practice from hell yesterday and I took the worst end of it," Kim said as Tommy teleported in and looked around the rather crowded Command Center. He had known that this was not exactly an ideal situation, but he wanted to get all of this out of the way at once. He did not want for any of the others to accidentally find out from any of their other friends and then be pissed about it. He could not take that sort of thing right now.

"What are we here for Tommy?" Billy asked, as he had a lot of stuff that he needed to work on tonight and he needed to get home as quickly as possible. There were some modification that he was making to their weapons, but he had decided to take them to his home, where he could work on them whenever the notion came upon him.

"Well, we have some news for you," Tommy said as he walked over to Kim and squatted down in front of her. He was definitely concerned about her and he wanted to make sure that she was alright. He had felt horrible leaving her today, but he had really had no other choice in the matter. He had to go to work right now, because things were definitely going to get bad sometime in the future and he needed a good enough record with the school to not get fired when he or she wound up in the hospital.

"I'll be okay Tommy, I just want to get home. I haven't been comfortable all day," Kim said as Tommy nodded and then turned to face the others. He could see that none of them were really expecting what was about to come of his lips, except Hayley and even she did not seem to welcome the idea and she had had all day to adjust to what was surely going to be said.

"Are you engaged?" Kat asked, as she honestly expected that they two of them would be heading in that direction very soon. It only seemed logical after the way that they had been acting together lately. They had spent so much time apart that it only made sense that they would rush through some things. They didn't need a long courtship or even a long time to get to know each other, they already did, they just had to pick up where they left off.

"We skipped that," Kim muttered as they all stared over at her and then just looked up at Tommy, who smiled down at Kim. She was in too much pain to even sensor the words that came into her mind.

"You're married?" Aisha asked, clearly outraged. They had all wanted to go to the wedding, be a part of what they had, the miracle that was their love. Now, they weren't going to get a chance at that. "Why weren't any of us invited?"

"Because we were going to have a big ceremony after we defeated Nadrox and Demetri, but I accidentally almost called her my wife last night with Hayley and that isn't something that I could truly take back without getting in trouble," Tommy said as they just stared at him.

"Please tell me that you're still going to have some sort of ceremony," Kat said as Kim barely nodded.

"It's more likely to be a reception, there really isn't any use since we just told all of you that we are married," Kim said as Tommy reached down and rubbed her back. He could tell that it was killing her to be sitting this straight right now. "I'm going to kill Ninjor when I next see him."

"If I don't first," Tommy said as Jason smiled over at him. He had always been protective of Kim and it had killed him when something happened to her that he could have prevented and this was definitely one of those times.

"I'm not even really sure who you are," Meagan said as Kim looked over at the girl and smiled. She had been sure that this would come up in their line of questioning today, but she was fine with it.

"You wouldn't, most people around here don't know who I am. I never was able to really go out in public around here, what with all the injuries I had," Kim said as Meagan gave her a confused look. She didn't really like the way that this sounded.

"So, are we fools to agree to be rangers?" Meagan asked as Kim just shook her head no and Meagan let out a sigh of relief.

"No one goes through the hell that we go through. It's always just us that has this happen. It's been this way for years, so there is not much that we can do about it, considering everything that has happened," Kim said as Meagan gave her a startled look. None of the other rangers had acted like this before.

"You have to learn to excuse Kim and Dr. O, they don't care if they come across as harsh, they tell the truth about the situation, no matter what might be the best way to handle it. There really is not time to bull shit about how things are around here," Kira said as Meagan managed to nod and Kim reached back to stop Tommy's hand from massaging out anymore cricks, she was way too close to crying from the pain and she did not want to do that in front of them. She didn't want to let them know how bad it really was on her right now.

"So the two of you decided to do it?" Tommy asked as Phillip and Meagan nodded. They had weighed out everything last night and had seen no other option but to become rangers. They needed help and had offered them positions, so they must trust them, they just had to learn everything that they could manage to soak up from them. "Sorry I left Conner here to explain it to you."

"He actually did a decent job," Ethan said as Conner just looked over at Dr. O. He was starting to get to where he could read the older man fairly well. That was not something that he could say a few weeks ago.

"Go ahead and go home, Dr. O. We can take care of everything here," Conner said as Tommy just nodded. He trusted these kids when they said something like that. He knew that he had actually trained some decent rangers over the last few weeks.

"Come on," Tommy said as he pulled Kim to her feet and then teleported the two of them away.

"You two knew, didn't you?" Aisha asked as Jason and Trini both nodded their heads yes. They hadn't really known, but they had been suspicious enough to come to the conclusion that Kim and Tommy had gotten married without any of them knowing about it. "And you still didn't tell us what happened?"

"It wasn't something that we could tell, it was their business and they deserve to be together. We didn't even know it for sure, but we did think that it had happened. They both mysteriously moved everything that they owned into one bedroom, they kinda tipped us off, but we knew that they couldn't keep it a secret forever. They would tell us all eventually," Trini said as Jason nodded in agreement. He had noticed the same thing the last time that they were over at their place, but he hadn't wanted to say anything either.

"I really hate to break all of this up, but we do have work to do," Hayley said as the others reluctantly nodded that that was the case. Too much had happened lately and they all needed some time to recharge, considering that their chances for attack had just sky rocketed. If any evil found out that the two of them were married, then there would be a hay day trying to capture one of them and make the both of them pay for it all. It had surely gotten out to the evil community that they had a connection and they knew it would be exploited. It was what evil seemed to do best.


	28. Pissed Practitioners

"Why did the two of you miss practice?" Ninjor asked as he landed in their apartment and Kim just rolled over and looked at him. Tommy was going to love seeing him arrive here after the practice that they had had yesterday. He knew that her body had been through too much, she needed to have some rest. That was why he had even refused to go to practice, he had to make sure that she was not trying to do too much right now. The worries that he had right now, far out weighted the wrath that he was sure they were going to get from Ninjor.

"I can't walk," Kim said as Ninjor just stared at her. She could solve that problem on her own and even if she couldn't she certainly had enough help to make it possible. They needed practice, more than they would ever understand. Things that were about to happen were going to challenge them in ways that they had never imagined in the past.

"You didn't think that I could help with that?" Ninjor asked as Tommy walked in and just stared over at Ninjor. He did not want him anywhere near her right now. She needed to feel the pain, so that the next time would not be so bad.

"She needs to rest, we both do. We've been working our asses off for nothing. They haven't even showed up. Let us rest today, we need it," Tommy said as Ninjor just looked at him before healing Kim's back. Neither of them had asked for it and by the look on Tommy's face, he did not appreciate it at all. He knew that this was hurting her now, but he would rather see it now than it to hit her again this bad later on.

"You should have healed yourself," Ninjor said as Kim sat up and Tommy glared over at Ninjor. He wanted for this to go about naturally, there was something about this that made him feel that there would be no good to come out of it. "We still need to work."

"One day of rest is not going to kill us. We're not the teenagers that we used to be. We can't keep putting our bodies through this, we have to have time to recuperate or we won't be any good to you or anyone else," Tommy said as Kim walked over to the men, knowing that they were likely to go at it. The both of them felt just as strongly about each of their own points and neither was likely to back down any time soon.

"One day Ninjor, to let us heal and we'll be back tomorrow," Kim said placing her hand on Tommy's shoulder, to try to get him to calm down, just a little bit. He did not need to get in a fight with Ninjor when they really did need his help. "Come on, Tommy, our food will be here in a little while.

"They could come after you tonight!" Ninjor roared as Kim and Tommy looked back at him, pissed in every way that they could manage right now. They knew that was true, but they also knew that they would be no good if they were to get attacked while they were in the condition that they had been in earlier today. It was better to rest and be somewhat refreshed instead of dead tired.

"Not after my little warning this morning. They want us to be weak Ninjor and right now we are far too strong, so they are staying away," Tommy said as Kim just sighed. She had the feeling that this argument was nowhere near over by the looks on both of their faces.

"I can't sense them, unlike all the other evils that came upon you. You are the only two people in the universe that can and that comforts me none. The two of you refuse to hone that ability to the point where it needs to be," Ninjor said as Tommy watched Kim leave the room, presumably to get their food from downstairs without any knowledge being transferred that they had an odd being in their home. The real reason, however, had to do with the fact that she could sense them, unlike Tommy. She didn't want for Ninjor to reveal that while she was there, as she was sure that he would.

"We can't turn our bodies and minds into steel traps. I honestly don't want to be sensing when someone is knocking at the door downstairs," Tommy said as Ninjor smiled as he sat down.

"But Kim can. No one called to say that your food was here. It's time you start to agree with all the things that your mind has been dealing with lately. It'll make it easier on you in the end. You just have to trust me about this," Ninjor said as Kim walked back up with the food and Tommy just stared at her.

"You have got to be kidding," Tommy said as Ninjor just shook his head and Kim gave him a confused look. She had missed out on the entire conversation, but they wouldn't go back over it just for her. Neither of them wanted to piss her off, as she was still rather grumpy.

"What are you talking about?" Kim asked as she sat down and Ninjor and Tommy clammed up. They did not dare to say a word about it. Neither wanted to receive her wrath for their conversation, as it was not something that they thought needed to be said, but it was also something that she didn't need to know about right now.

"The plans for tomorrow," Ninjor lied as Tommy just nodded before Ninjor left.

"You're lying to me, Tommy," Kim said as Tommy smiled at her, hoping to get himself out of trouble, by the little bit of charm he could still hold over her. "But I think it's because you don't want me to find out the truth of the matter; you and Ninjor could only unite in fear of me after that fight. So, you had to be talking about me."

"What the hell? How'd you do that?" Tommy asked as Kim smiled at him and he couldn't help but shake his head. It absolutely shocked them that she was able to do this.

"I know you, Tommy. I can see it in your eyes when you lie to me," Kim muttered as he gave her a hug, that was it for the day. He had been stressed during school, knowing that he had to tell their friends everything that evening, but Kim was calming him more and more each second.

"Kim, you know that we are in trouble," Tommy said as Kim nodded. Their friends were going to kill them when they fully got over the shock. They still hadn't had a chance to understand it and once they did, their phone was not going to stop ringing.

"Yeah, we are, but our friends will learn to deal with it," Kim said as she stood up and walked over to the kitchen table.

"We need a real home, Kim," Tommy said as Kim looked over at him. She was not planning on starting a family anytime soon. The damn people that were after them kinda made that a problem. She was sure that brining a child into the world right now was something that she didn't need to do, unless they defeated their demons.

"When I find out that I'm pregnant we'll start planning ahead. We've still got some time to enjoy this type of life," Kim said as Tommy looked at her.

"Kim, I just mean that we need to start planning ahead. We are going to be in Angel Grove for awhile, we're not going to live here forever," Tommy said as Kim walked over and gave him a hug.

"Planning is something we'll do when we finally get rid of those demons," Kim said as Tommy nodded. The problem with him was that he was getting older and although he was still a couple of years from being thirty, it was getting closer every day.

"And if that takes ten years?" Tommy asked as Kim sat down on the couch and Tommy sat down next to her. "They don't seem anxious to come out and fight against us, now do they?"

"Tommy, you know that they won't be patient much longer, it's not in their blood, just like it wasn't and isn't in ours to fight, but we have to, for everyone else," Kim said as Tommy merely nodded.

"Why didn't you heal this time?" Tommy asked as Kim let out a sigh. She had been thinking the same thing today as she laid there, stiff as a board on the couch. There were several things that had run through her mind, but none of them had made a lot of sense.

"I don't know, but it seems that it is expected, for some reason. Ninjor just set me straight without a worry or a care," Kim said as Tommy just shook his head. He feared what was going to become of their bodies once they had finished this.

"You need to hurt some now or it'll be hell to pay later. It's not natural for your body to have as much pain as you should have felt build up inside," Tommy said as Kim nodded. She had definitely had some similar thoughts over the past week.

"I've been trying to hold off the healing for a day or so, so I'll at least make sure nothing is seriously injured, but it won't stop. I usually wake up the next day and feel perfectly fine, while you groan and moan," Kim said as Tommy nodded. There had been some nights when they couldn't even touch each other they were so sore, but that was not the case now. Kim could always find some comfortable way to sleep and it usually required Tommy to be her pillow.

"I think we need to talk to Ninjor tomorrow. It will do us no good to continue to fight if you are going to eventually get back to like you were today," Tommy said as Kim nodded. It had been absolutely no fun to lay there and do nothing. Her body ached to move, but it also ached so much that she soon gave up on the idea. It was just too much of a pain to do anything other than try to find the most comfortable position that she could.

"Ninjor isn't going to like your idea, Tommy," Kim said, gently, as he nodded. He knew that all too well, but there was absolutely nothing he could do about that.

"And I don't like the idea of you laying in a hospital bed for months after we defeat them because of everything that has built up inside of you," Tommy said as Kim merely nodded.

"How have you been so patient?" Kim asked, completely changing the subject.

"About what?" Tommy asked as Kim gave him a sympathetic, yet frustrated, look. "Oh…that, it's not really been patience, but timing and your health. Let's face it, we've either been too hurt or too tired or too pissed to do anything."

"And where does today fit?" Kim asked as Tommy looked over at her. "You are my husband and I do think that we have waited far too long."

"That's usually a boyfriend's line," Tommy said as Kim laughed. "You're sure that you're okay?"

"Tommy, I'm fine," Kim said as she gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Well, I think we need to go to bed."

"You're joking, right?" Tommy asked as Kim shook her head no. She definitely was not joking about his and he couldn't help but gulp at the thought it invoked.

----------

"They got married?" Conner asked, still shocked by the news that they had received a few hours ago.

"It's not like we didn't expect it to happen. This was just a little bit sudden," Kat said as everyone nodded. That was definitely an understatement, to say the least. They had all thought Kim and Tommy would wait it out and be patient and have an actual ceremony.

"It's not like any of us would have been able to stop them once they decided to do it. They're both more stubborn than anybody else I know," Jason said as the others looked over at him. "They needed to do this for them, not for anyone else, we all know they deserve some happiness and this is how they are getting it. It's been hell for them lately."

"But don't you think that they might have jumped into this a little bit too early? They've barely been on good terms for a month," Aisha said as Trini let out a long sigh.

"We thought the same thing, but think about everything else that is going on with them. They choose to bond, they choose that they were always going to be connected, no matter what we or anyone did. Marriage would only be natural after you do something like that. It's not like the two of them don't want to be together," Trini said as the others nodded. They could definitely follow that train of thought better than some of the others that had been presented in the last several hours.

"I'm sorry, but I thought that we were going to get some ranger related help," Meagan said as the news that Dr. O was married shocked her, but it honestly didn't seem like it should be this big a deal.

"You just got some of the best ranger related help that you could get," Jason said as Meagan gave him a confused look. She did not see how finding out that Dr. O was married to someone that he had only been around for a month was ranger related news, unless being a ranger pushed you to insanity. "You learned that rangers are humans, we still have emotions and we still yearn to be loved and cared for by another person. Don't think that you become a ranger and you cease to be human, it doesn't happen. You are actually more likely to cling to your human side because of how rough this world is. You want the normalcy that other people merely forsake. You want to be human and it's hard for that to happen some times."

"You fight a few monsters, how rough can it be?" Phillip asked as Conner, Kira, and Ethan all looked down at the ground. They had not known how to explain that to them. It was something that you had to experience to understand fully.

"Yeah, but those monsters can kill you or your friends or even some innocent bystander. You have no idea how many people we have watched die because we didn't get there in time and how much it hurts to know that they depended on you and you failed," Jason said, as he looked over at the others. They looked like they had expected this type of question, but they just didn't have the experience to answer it. They didn't have enough experience to be able to figure out how to answer it without something horrible happening.

"And Kimberly and Tommy have it worse than the rest of us. They live with the fact that they have almost lost each other so many times and every time one of them is captured it runs through the others mind that this will be the time that they don't make it out alive and that they'll watch their best friend die. We've all had some scares, but they've had it come too close. I can't even count how many times one of them has been lying on a gurney with the other sitting at their bedside, praying that they'd wake up. You don't want to experience that. You want to get the good out of your ranger experience and try to forget the bad, so that you aren't like us, so that you can live without being afraid that someday you'll wake up and find out that all of your friends are dead, because in the night some creature came and killed them. If Kim and Tommy succeed, we will be able to forget that fear," Trini said as Jason put his arm around her and she instinctively wrapped her arms around him.

"But they love being rangers," Meagan said as Jason sadly shook his head no. They understood the reason that they were rangers, but to say that they loved it was an overstatement. They longed to be normal, but being normal for them required them to be rangers.

"No, they realize the responsibility of being a ranger. They realize that they are needed in this community, probably more than any of the other rangers that have ever existed. Tommy is a legendary ranger and there is not much that other ranger teams don't know about him. The one thing that they never knew about was why Kim and Tommy no longer existed, why suddenly one day it became just Tommy. We all share some responsibility in putting the two of them up on the pedestal that they now are forced to live on. They are what all rangers aspire to be and if they can put an end to all evil, they'll be the happiest people on Earth. They will be done with being rangers and will be able to return to the real world. That is what all of this is about for them right now, it's not about them liking their job, it's just about doing it," Billy said as Meagan nodded that she understood.

"Are you sure that they would be all right with you telling us all of this?" Conner asked, as he had seen Dr. O and Kim go off when information was told that they wanted to be kept secret.

"There is a reason that we are here. There is stuff that you need to know about the two of them, that you would never get out of them. You are going to have to learn to work with two of the best, you need to have an idea of what they are really about," Jason said as Conner just nodded. As long as they were fine with whatever Kim and Tommy did to them, then he was not going to object to a single thing. "Plus, we've known them since high school or in Kim's case elementary school, who else is going to give you dirt on them?"

"Jason, no," Trini said shaking her head as Jason looked over at her and smiled. "They are going to kill you, you know that."

"I'll take my chances with them. These kids need to know exactly where Kim and Tommy are coming from," Jason said as the teens gathered around, anxious to hear more about their mentors from the people that knew them best. They had been prying for weeks and had gotten nothing, now they had the mother load of information before them and they were not going to give it up, no matter what else might happen to them for finding everything out.


	29. Tommy's Turn

"What are you doing Demetri, they'll hear you!" Nadrox said in an urgent whisper as they tiptoed around the living room. They could hear noises from the bedroom, but neither of them were sure that they would be able to get close enough to observe them without one of them recognizing their presence. Their senses were heightening with every encounter and they were afraid that they would soon be able to sense them from blocks away. Their surveillance of them was already not nearly as good as they needed it to be, but they had to try this, it seemed to be their only option now.

"With as much noise as they are making, I don't think it possible that they will hear us," Demetri said as she placed her ear on the door of Tommy's room and she heard nothing from within, so she gently opened the door. The room was empty, which was odd. As far as she knew, they still generally slept in different rooms. Nadrox's discovery of the wedding band that Tommy carried with him made this little expedition necessary. They needed to see what their true relationship was. A married couple was going to be a lot harder to deal with than a bonded couple. There were things there that they were sure that the rangers didn't even know about and with each passing day, they seemed to be making it harder on them.

"Tommy…" Kim whispered as her mind began coming back to her and she could coherently speak.

"Yeah," Tommy said as he forced himself to roll over onto his side so that he could see her.

"They're here, again," Kim said, in a depressed tone as Tommy let out a frustrated sigh and he then got up and pulled on a pair of boxers as he threw her one of his t-shirts. He was so tired of hearing those words from her, but it seemed to be happening much more often than he would ever like. "Tommy, don't do that."

"Kim, they don't want a battle, guess what I'm not waiting until we are in are late thirties to duke this thing out. I can't give up that much time," Tommy said as he slung the door open and Nadrox and Demetri jumped away from it. They had been seconds away from leaving them, but they had been discovered and they didn't know how it was possible. They had been nearly silent and had been sure that if one of them sensed them that they would blurt it out, not calmly walk to the door and greet them. "Nice to see you here again…I'm starting to think that you like this place more than we do."

"Blasted rangers," Demetri murmured as she started to shimmer away, but Kimberly caught her arm. They were not going anywhere unless the two of them wanted to take them somewhere.

"You're not going anywhere," Kim said as she looked over at Tommy, who had a firm grasp on Nadrox. The both of them had had enough of their fooling around. They wanted to get this over with so that they could go on with their life. "We are taking you somewhere."

"You're not evil, you can't make us do anything," Nadrox said, as he knew that only evil beings could usually take them anywhere.

"You forget something about us, we've flirted with the line of good and evil for years, so I'd definitely think before you say that we don't have an evil side that we are willing to exploit when we have to," Kim said as they teleported them to the middle of the desert.

"I'm tired of the bull shit," Tommy said as he slung Nadrox away and Kimberly did the same thing with Demetri. If they left them here, then they were perfectly fine with that. They had gotten them out of their house and that was all that they wanted right now. They wanted to have some peace and in their opinion that was not too much to ask. "The both of you want to take over the earth, we want to stop you. So let's just go ahead and settle all of this shit now."

"You see, we cannot fight you until we are told to or we are as good as dead. We do want to take over this planet, but some people think that it needs to be on their terms," Nadrox said as Tommy just shook his head and took a step towards him.

"I don't believe that there is anyone telling you when and where to fight us," Tommy said as Kim grabbed his arm and he looked back at her.

"They're telling the truth Tommy," Kim said as he looked down at her as Demetri and Nadrox stared at her in shock. She was protecting them? A ranger that was destined to kill them was protecting them? When had this happened and why did it scare them so much? "They have to wait for whoever the hell it is."

"Kim…" Tommy began as she just looked up at him. "How can you say that?"

"I understand what it's like. There's not much of a choice about it," Kim said as he walked over to her and Nadrox and Demetri started to sneak away. "Don't you dare go anywhere, we're not done."

"What will you do? Come battle us in space?" Demetri asked as Tommy and Kim both smiled.

"That actually sounds like a wonderful idea," Tommy said as he gave Kim a concerned look. There was something in the way that she said everything that made him believe that he was going to have to sit her down for a long talk. He was not comfortable with her knowing all of this and him knowing next to nothing.

"We were being sarcastic," Nadrox said, trying to dig them out of the hole that Demetri had put them in.

"You should know better than to be sarcastic with a ranger. It's not very wise, we take most things very seriously," Kim said as Nadrox grabbed Demetri and they shimmered away before either of them could catch a hold of one of them. "Damn it."

"At least we got some things out of them," Tommy said as he put his arms around her. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I just want to go home," Kim said as he brought her into a hug and then teleported home.

------------

"Interesting, isn't it?" Ben said as he walked around the lair and Mesogogg nodded. It had taken weeks for him to get any evidence that Kimberly and Tommy were married, but he had finally been able to find the certificate, after a lot of illegal searching. He knew that this was something that Mesogogg would want to know about and hopefully it would keep him out of the hot seat for a little while.

"Yes, I do say that their marriage will be part of their downfall," Mesogogg said as Ben just shook his head. That was definitely not something that he believed.

"It's just going to make them stronger. The two of them are powerful beyond belief and I think that their replacements are going to be just as powerful," Ben said in a worried tone. "I think that we're in over our heads."

"The teenagers are nothing without those two," Mesogogg said as Ben looked down at the ground.

"Those teenagers will learn more from them everyday. They will become like one of the first ranger teams and that bond is what we've been trying to prevent as of late," Ben said as Mesogogg just shook his head. All of his plans had been foiled since he had attacked Kimberly. He had released something in the woman that honestly scared him. She was never this powerful before and now he knew that it was because of her kindness that she had never killed him before.

"If Tommy and Kimberly are involved, I doubt we'll be able to stop it, unless we go for one of them right now," Mesogogg said as Ben looked over at him. He didn't think that capturing a ranger would solve anything. He actually thought that it would create more problems than they already had.

"Who do you suggest we capture?" Ben asked as Mesogogg looked over at him and leered. He could tell that Ben was not overly excited to do this, but there was not much that he could do about his feelings.

"Tommy, let's see what Kimberly does without her precious husband," Mesogogg said as Ben looked at him in shock. Suggesting Tommy was surely suicidal, but what could he do about it? Mesogogg was not listening to reason anymore. He had become irrational since Kimberly had become the one woman that could defeat him without any qualms.

"I'm telling you that's not a good idea," Ben said as Mesogogg glared over at him.

"And I'm telling you to do it and quickly," Mesogogg said as Ben let out a sigh and then left. He was going to have a very busy day today.

------------

"Dr. Oliver," Principal Miesner said as Tommy walked into the building looking extremely tired. He had had a very long night last night, no matter what anyone else thought, being a newlywed had been fairly good until they had had a midnight visit from the monsters of their lives. "Have you seen your wife today?"

"My wife? I just left home," Tommy said, rather confused, as he had walked out the door only ten minutes ago and Kim had been heading down to her office at about the same time.

"She's in your room," Principal Miesner said as Tommy just looked at him and then looked down into his bag. He wanted to find his cell phone, but it seemed that he had left it somewhere.

"Can I use the phone?" Tommy asked as Principal Miesner nodded his head and Tommy walked into the office and picked up the phone. "Kim…hey, where are you?"

"In my office, Tommy, you're not losing your mind are you? You just left here about ten minutes ago," Kim said as Tommy looked back over his shoulder and Principal Miesner left the room.

"My principal just said that you are here," Tommy said as Kim dropped her phone and then scrambled to pick it up. She prayed that Tommy would listen to her and not do something stupid right now, which was very likely to happen.

"Don't go into your room, please wait for me to get there, Tommy," Kim said as Tommy looked down at the floor.

"You want me to wait? Kim, I'm sorry but you showing up here will make some people realize that something weird is happening. I'll call you when I can figure it out," Tommy said, hanging up as Kim yelled her last protest, hoping he would listen to her. "Thanks."

"Any time," Principal Miesner said as Tommy walked past him to his room.

"Hey, Kim," Tommy said as he walked in and the person turned to face him. "I know you're not her."

"Smart, Dr. Oliver," the woman said as she kissed him and he tried to pull back as he felt the woman take him away.

"She's going to kill me," Tommy muttered as he found himself in Mesogogg's lair being strapped down to a table.

"If we don't first," Mesogogg said as Tommy let out a frustrated sigh. Kim was going to kill him if he got scars to match hers. It didn't matter how he left here, he had a feeling if he was killed, and she would just bring him back to kill him again.

"She's worse," Tommy said as he felt his phone vibrate and he just looked down at his side. He was far too out of it this morning to realize that he had his phone on his hip. Principal Miesner must have wondered about him asking for a phone, considering the fact that his was on his hip, but he knew that the man was a little bit forgetful.

"You only believe that because you have never experienced our torture," Mesogogg said as Tommy smiled up at him. He honestly was not too worried about what this man might try to do to him.

"Kim will kill me," Tommy said as he laughed. He knew his welcoming home would not be pleasant, unless something bad happened to him and he did not wish that sort of stress on Kim right now. She had enough on her mind without him being severely injured.

-----------

"What do you mean he's not there?" Kim roared as she paced her office. She just had a bad feeling about all of this and needed some comfort.

"Mrs. Oliver, I'm sorry, but he seems to have disappeared," Principal Miesner said as Kim slammed the phone back in it's cradle and let out a frustrated yell. How could they just lose a teacher?

"You okay?" Ben asked, peeking his head in her office as she shook her head no. "What's wrong?"

"They've taken Tommy," Kim said, quietly, as Ben stared at her. He had to at least act shocked, although this was not new news to him. "I'm going to kill him."

"If they don't," Ben muttered as Kim looked over at him. He was taking this far too well and although Tommy had said nothing she knew he didn't trust Ben. She was now beginning to wonder if he had been right about some things.

"They won't kill him, they never do. All they wish to do is make me suffer, but why would Nadrox and Demetri choose him again?" Kim wondered aloud as she scrolled through her cell phone to fine Billy's number. "They couldn't do anything to him last time, so why try it again?"

"Who's that?" Ben asked as Kim shook her head, if he only knew what was going on.

"Our other problem," Kim said as Billy's phone continued to ring, until her call was forwarded to his voicemail. "Damn it…who else can help me?"

"I can," Ben offered as Kim shook her head no. She could not see Tommy letting him into a command center and she wasn't going to do that either.

"Thanks, but I better not," Kim said as she picked up her purse and keys. "Can you finish today out for me and lock up? I've got to figure this crap out."

"Okay," Ben said as he walked out of her office and she locked it. "Why are you doing that?"

"I want to know that if anything happens in there it was caused by a monster, not by a student," Kim said as she walked out the front door and jumped into her car.

"This is not good," Ben muttered as he waved Kim good-bye. He knew that she was beginning to become suspicious and if he had any hopes of getting out, he had to do it soon. He had to do it before too much damage had been done.


	30. Pain Filled Revelations

"We're in Reefside, right?" Conner asked as they walked out of their third period class and saw Kim heading down the hall towards them. The look on her face did not make him feel like she was just here for a fun visit; it looked like she was all business, which was not a good thing. He could only think of one type of business she would be here for and that involved a teacher, a monster, and at least one odd evil occurrence within the last two hours. That was not something that he liked to know had happened so early in the morning, but it seemed that it had and that was something he didn't even want to think about.

"Yeah, I wonder what's up," Kira said as Meagan got the sinking feeling that something had happened and the only person it could have happened to was Dr. O. That was the only coherent reason that Kim would be here and look so pissed off right now. She had never seen someone that could pull of a look like that and be so small, but they all knew that when Kimberly looked like that, then there was definitely something wrong.

"Hey guys," Kim said as she passed them, almost at a full sprint. The school security guards had tried to keep her from entering the school, but she had just managed to find another way in. Hell, she looked like a teenager, so this was not that hard to pull off if they were going to try some bull shit about her needing identification. She had been on the grounds earlier this year without any idenification and she was sure that the new policy had to deal with the rangers, considering all of the things that they suspected right now.

"What's going on?" Ethan called after Kim as she continued down the hall. She did not have the time to stop and chat with them right now, although she would have loved it. These last few weeks had been hard and it would have been nice just to be able to talk nonsense, but that was not going to happen right now. She had other things that were on her mind that were much more important.

"I'll explain later," Kim said as she disappeared into the throng of students, leaving them all shocked.

"This doesn't look good," Conner said as the others nodded. Kim and Dr. O had kept their distance from Reefside, except when all hell was breaking loose. This looked like the ideal 'all hell is breaking loose' situation and there was not much that they could do about it. Kim seemed to be to the point that she was not going to tell them anything, unless they cornered her about it right now. "Is Billy here today?"

"Yeah, he is," Kira said as the realization slammed into her. There could only be one reason that Kim would be here today and that did not make her happy. They did not need this type of thing to happen right now. They knew that the two of them needed some stability in their lives and they were not getting that right now, everything had been far too hectic. "No…"

"Dr. O's been captured," Conner said as Kira nodded, they both were thinking the exact same thing and all it took was a look at each other to confirm it all. This was the only thing that would have Kim come to the school during the middle of the day. She was working on so much in Angel Grove that she no longer had time to be here, they all knew that and now that they had narrowed down the reason, it was going to be hell on all of them. "This isn't going to be fun for us."

"We'll get him back, won't we?" Phillip asked as Conner, Kira, and Ethan exchanged a glance. They didn't know the answer, but they knew by Kim's expression that this was not going to be pleasant. She didn't seem to know as much as Tommy had when she had been captured, although that hadn't stopped anything from happening to her. It had just given him an idea of where they needed to look first and what he might have to do to get there. She seemed to have no idea which way that this was going.

"If things go my way, yes," Kira said as they nodded, although they couldn't understand why she was this adamant about it. It was not until she opened her mouth again that it all became too clear. They barely remembered her incident with Mesogogg and now it was all coming back. "He saved me, I owe him."

"Then think about how much Kim owes him," Conner pointed out as Kira barely nodded. Kim and Tommy didn't seem like the type to keep tally, but it put things in perspective. They both owed each other more than they could ever give back and even if others tried to help, they both would feel that it was only their responsibility to help the other. They had all tried before to help them, but had found that it was extremely hard to even get a word in edgewise. "Let's get to class, they'll call us when they need us."

"Billy," Kim said as she screeched to a halt in front of him. He was so shocked that someone called him by his first name that it took him a minute to realize who was talking to him. He could not understand why she was here, this could only mean that something bad had happened, unless she just liked sprinting down school halls for no reason and as long as he had known her, that had never been a hobby. "Since when did you decide substitute teaching was what you wanted to do with your life?"

"Why are you here?" Billy asked, ushering her into the classroom, grateful that it was his planning period. He had a feeling that things were about to get a lot worse, he just hadn't expected this to be the definition of worse. The look in Kim's eyes was never a look that comforted him, he knew what it meant and he had just hoped that it was something that would not require him leaving at this moment. "Have Nadrox and Demetri done something?"

"I'm not sure, but Tommy has disappeared and I'm not quite sure where," Kim said, rather calmly, as Billy just stared at her. He had the awful feeling that she was about to break down, here, where he had no one else to help him. He knew how to get Kim out of a frenzy, but he had never been the best at calming her down, actually no one had been very good at it, except Tommy. "I need him back, Billy."

"I know," Billy said as he gave her a hug. He could see in her eyes that she was scared that something bad was going to happen to Tommy and it didn't make him feel any better than whatever happened to Tommy was going to inadvertently happen to her as well. Their bond had made that much obvious the last time that some idiot decided they wanted to capture Tommy. Kimberly had nearly died because of it last time and he didn't think that she would do much better this time. "Come on, I'm going to see if I can get a substitute. We need to start looking for him."

"Billy, I really just needed you to know about it, nothing else," Kim said as Billy shook his head that he did not believe her. He knew that she was desperate to get Tommy back quickly, because of what could happen to him. He also knew that once it started affecting her, she would not be able to help Tommy at all.

"Kim, you wouldn't be here if you didn't want my help. What is worrying you so much about this?" Billy asked as Kim looked down at the floor. She really did not want to bring this up to Billy right now, it was not going to help them find Tommy and that was what she was concerned with.

"It's just that I'm not even sure if it is Nadrox and Demetri. It might be Mesogogg and I don't know how we can figure out who has him. It seems impossible," Kim said as she let out a shaky breath and Billy let out a sigh.

He knew that the next few days were going to be hard on them, especially if they had a hard time finding Tommy. Kim was never a really good person when she didn't have Tommy there with her in a time when another ranger was taken away. Although, it had happened many more times between the two of them than with any other rangers that they had never been involved with, but neither of them would think of this situation like that. It just wasn't in their blood to do that sort of thing.

"It'll be possible by what you feel them doing to him. You just have to will yourself to feel whatever Tommy feels, even if it hurts and even if it's scary," Billy said as Kim looked up at him, shocked he would bring up their bond.

This was something that not many people talked about. It was something that they all seemed to like to keep in the back of their minds, as if it didn't exist. Hell, most of them probably didn't want it to exist, but there was nothing that they could do about it now. The two of them had decided that it was the only way that they could guarantee that they would make it out of this alive and they had not been willing to take chances on other things that were nowhere near as promising.

"I'm not even sure that I'll be able to feel him out. I haven't felt anything since he disappeared. He may be holding me out to keep me from worrying too much, you know how he is Billy. He doesn't want me worrying about him," Kim said as Billy walked her down the now silent hall, knowing that this was not a particularly spectacular occasion, but neither of them had experienced this type of silence in a long time.

"I don't think that Tommy would think about that right now, so let's take it as a good sign you haven't felt anything. That means that they haven't done anything to him, yet. You'll be the first to know when they do," Billy said as Kim cringed as she doubled over in pain and Billy just looked at her. He could not believe that he had spoken only moments before it began.

"It's Mesogogg," Kim muttered as she clutched her stomach and looked up at Billy. "This isn't going to be good."

"Come on, let's get you home," Billy said as he walked her out of the school and managed to get her to his car before she let out a cry of pain. "I just have to tell them that I need a sub and I'll be back with you."

"Okay," Kim said as she curled up in a ball in the passenger's seat, trying to get the message across to Tommy that he was sharing his pain just a little bit too much. They had learned how to cut it off and now was the time for him to do that, because she couldn't take it. He had let her know where he was and that was what she needed the most. She needed to know what they were up against and she didn't like what she was feeling at all. She knew exactly what this torture was like and she knew that Tommy would be able to only take so much before he passed out from the pain.

"Let me know if you actually start having any injuries from what's happening to him," Billy said as Kim miserably nodded and he just watched her begin to cry.

"He's in so much pain and he's worried about me, he's not even worried about himself," Kim said as Billy gave her a compassionate look and continued on his way to Tommy's old home. He knew that he had to act quickly or Kim was going to start suffering the consequences. "Why does he always have to be like this?"

"We're going to solve this Kim, don't worry, he'll be home with you before you know it," Billy said as Kim nodded. Billy had always been able to find people and she trusted that he would find Tommy. It was the only thing that was keeping her going right now. He knew that the pain was going to get much worse before it got any better for her.

--------------

"It had to be Dr. O," Kira muttered as Conner nodded. He knew that things must be bad when Billy was not there for their class. Something major had to be going on for him to leave, from what they could tell, as soon as Kim arrived. If their hunch had been correct, they were in for much more than they expected. They had honestly hoped that it had just been an illusion and that it would all go away as the day went by, but as the day had continued everything had just become more real to them.

"Do you think we need to go on to Hayley's?" Conner asked as Kira nodded her head yes. She knew that things were not so great right now and that they might need their help. With what, she wasn't quite sure, but they had always been open to them coming in when they were needed.

"You seem to act like this has happened before," Meagan said as the three, slightly more experienced, rangers exchanged a glance. They couldn't lie to Meagan and Phillip, although that was what they wanted to do. They didn't know whether or not they would be able to handle the truth of what was happening here.

"It has, but it was Kim last time and it wasn't pretty," Kira said as Meagan and Phillip nodded. They didn't understand why it would be so hard to talk about, but they had not seen her injuries or watched her barely be able to move around for a couple of weeks. "We're not exactly sure how she will react to Dr. O being gone, but if his reaction was any indication, we're in for a couple of tough days if we can't get to him right away."

"Come on, they're going to need our help," Conner said as Kira climbed into his car and Ethan went off with Meagan and Phillip. He could tell that the two of them needed some time alone, although he was not exactly sure why they would need that right now. "You okay?"

"They never really did anything to me, but look at what happened to Kim and you know what will probably happen to Dr. O, why is it always them? Why haven't any of us had this happen?" Kira asked as her eyes teared up and Conner looked over at her. He wished that he had an answer that would make her feel better, but everything that came to mind did not seem like it would comfort her in the least bit.

"I don't think that we're supposed to know why this is happening, even they don't know why this is happening. If they did, they'd be working on a way to stop it, you know how much it kills them, but it's going to be okay, Kira," Conner said as he reached over and grabbed her hand. "They're good rangers, they know what has to be done, better than any of us."

"But is Kim going to even be able to help us?" Kira asked as Conner shrugged his shoulders. He had no clue what might be happening to her, but he knew that they hadn't been contacted, which was a good sign. If Billy had seen a reason to contact them, then all hell would break loose.

"It depends on how much pain Dr. O is in. If his pain makes her pass out, then we're not going to have any of the knowledge that she would be able to give us, but we will know that Dr. O is in trouble. It's really all that we can hope for right now is to know how much trouble he might be in," Conner said as he pulled up in the driveway and the two of them slowly got out of his car. They did not want to face the reality yet. They wanted to go just a little bit longer in the wonderful bliss of ignorance that they were under right now. They technically didn't know that Dr. O had been captured and it could still be possible that something else had happened. They were not very hopeful, but they needed this little bit of hope right now.

"Before you go down there, I need to warn you," Billy said as he greeted them at the front door and they could faintly hear a moan. He knew that this was something that the younger rangers were not going to like to see, but if they didn't help, then Tommy was not going to come back. Kim couldn't help him anymore than she already was. "Kim's in pain and she's not getting any better. She's upset that he's gone and worried about what they are doing to him. There is a lot that is about to fall on your shoulders and I have to tell you that if you don't do it right, we're in trouble. She can't go rescue him with the pain that she's feeling and I've got a ball park idea of where he is, but I only want to send two of you. It's going to take the other three to help me with Kim. We have to keep her as distracted as possible, because if the pain overwhelms her, it's going to hurt Tommy even more."

"What do you mean?" Meagan asked as Hayley walked outside and they heard the earnest scream that had come from the only person remaining within the house. She could not help but be scared about what she had heard, but the other rangers looked rather calm, although their was worry evident in their expressions.

"She's bleeding. They must have finally drawn blood from Tommy or he might have let down some of his protection for a fraction of a second," Hayley said as Billy ran back inside, towards the Command Center.

"What's going on?" Phillip asked as Conner and Kira went after Billy. They knew that they were going to volunteer themselves to go after Tommy, but they didn't want to do that in front of the others. They didn't want for them to figure out what danger they were going to be putting themselves in.

"This is what a real rangers life is about, even if they left this out in your little ranger crash course," Hayley said as Meagan and Phillip stared at Ethan.

"I couldn't tell you, there is not much that we can do about it. We didn't really think that anyone would get captured again, much less Dr. O or Kim. They've got too much going on in their lives for them to get captured, which I guess is why it happened," Ethan said as they walked inside and heard Kimberly's anguished cries. He could only imagine what it had been like when Kimberly was captured and being hit by Mesogogg's whip.

"Tommy!" Kimberly yelled out as she rolled over clutching her stomach and the tears streamed down her face. "Tommy!"

"He's going to be fine, Kim," Billy whispered as he wiped down her forehead and looked over at Kira and Conner, who were grabbing the weapons that Billy had laid out for them. They knew that they did not have a long time before she was to pass out and then Tommy would be pulled down even further.

"We're going, Kim, we'll be back soon," Conner said as he kneeled down beside the screaming pink ranger and she momentarily looked over at him and barely nodded as she writhed in pain again.

"Hurry," Billy muttered as the others walked in and watched the two rangers exchange a glance and then teleport out. Kimberly was in more pain than she had ever been in and she was screaming out again.

-------------

"Kimberly!" Tommy screamed as he could feel everything digging into him and the pain that he was sending to her, although he didn't wish to do this to her. He wanted for this just to stop so that she wouldn't feel any more pain. It took everything out of him not to ask Mesogogg to stop, for Kim's sake, not his own.

"Why are you yelling for her? You know she won't come for you, she doesn't love you that much," Mesogogg said as Tommy took in a shaking breath, glad that the beating had stopped for the moment. He hoped that he would be able to give her an honest chance to recover from the pain.

"Because you're hurting her," Tommy muttered as Mesogogg just gave him a confused look. He couldn't really believe that they two of them had a bond that would let them feel what was happening to the other. If he had only known the truth, he would have actually kept beating Tommy while he talked. If he could get two for the price of one, that was so much better. "Do anything else to me, but don't beat me anymore. I'll let you do anything, except that."

"If I'm hurting Kimberly, then I need to keep doing this, the more she hurts, the more you will," Mesogogg said as he lifted the whip again, but the alarmed sounded in the hall and he threw it down and then ran from the room.

Tommy now dared to look at his torso and he saw that he was just as slashed as Kimberly had been weeks before, but he could tell that her body only had a couple, which made him thankful. He could hear the commotion in the hallway, but he had no clue what could be causing it all. He just had to figure out a way to get out of here and back to his wife, before she got any worse. He was not worried about his own health, as her healing seemed to be keeping him sane. He had the feeling that she was going to be able to heal him when he finally got to her. He just needed to get there and soon.

"Dr. O," Kira said as she walked up next to him and he looked over at her. He couldn't believe that she was here, he hadn't thought that they would be able to make it. "Let me get you out of here; Conner's holding him off."

"Kira, please tell me that Kim is okay," Tommy pleaded as Kira walked closer to him and saw that he was honestly worried. He knew that something was wrong with her, but he couldn't tell exactly what and he needed to know that she was fine.

"Once we get you back to her, everything will be fine, but we have to get you back as soon as we can," Kira said as Tommy nodded and then forced himself to stand. His pain was starting to ebb away, but he knew that Conner could not hold out much longer.

"Wait for Conner and get him out of here. I'll follow you," Tommy said as Kira shook her head no. Tommy didn't know how bad Kimberly was doing right now, so he just had to trust her. They had to leave and then let Conner follow them.

"No, I'll take you and then Conner can come later. He'll be fine, Dr. O, but we've got to get you out of here," Kira said as Conner bolted the door closed and looked over at the two of them. He had been sure that the two of them would be gone by the time that he got in here.

"What the hell are you waiting for?" Conner yelled as he ran over to the two of them and then teleported them away. "What the hell were the two of you doing? It's not like Mesogogg isn't after you right now!"

"Ah!" Kimberly yelled as her head snatched away from Billy and Tommy looked over at them. Tommy, as if on cue, fell to his knees as his own pain took him over and her body was released from the pain that she had been taking in order for him to survive Mesogogg.

"Sweetie," Billy murmured as Kimberly curled into a tight ball and turned away from him. Something was wrong, there was nothing that they could do, unless Tommy was able to somehow gather himself together. "Tommy…"

"Oh, god," Tommy said as he managed to walk closer to Kim and placed one hand on her side as she heaved in uneasy breaths. "I need you, Kimberly. Come on beautiful, look at me."

"Tommy," Kim said as she rolled over and faced him, the pain ebbing away as her entire body stiffened and then she felt her stomach contract, before she pushed him out of the way and threw up. The young rangers looked shocked, but Billy and Hayley merely looked at each, they had been afraid that this was going to happen to her. They knew that her reaction was directly linked to how bad he was doing and he was not doing so great right now.

"I'll take him and you get Kim upstairs," Billy directed as Hayley nodded, before pulling the petite ranger to her feet and helping her walk up the stairs as the younger rangers stared at Tommy, who made a feeble attempt to follow them. He didn't seem to care that his chest was slashed so badly that it was no longer recognizable. He wanted to stay with his wife, even if he was not in the best condition. "Come on, I've got to get those cleaned and that ointment on you before you can go lay down with her."

"She's pregnant," Tommy muttered as Billy looked down at him and gave him a skeptical look. It seemed like Tommy was only just figuring this out himself and it didn't really make sense to him how he would know that before Kimberly would. "I can feel it and she's going to lose the baby as soon as she finds out."

"Tommy, how can you know that?" Billy asked as the tears were falling and the other rangers quietly dismissed themselves from the room. They knew that Billy would tell them everything that he could when he came upstairs, but they didn't want to hear anymore. They were sure that the more that they heard the worse it would be.

"I know it because I feel it, I feel me. That's why it's been hurting her so bad," Tommy barely muttered as Billy just shook his head and began cleaning Tommy's wounds, tired that he had to see more of these marks. "She's not going to be able to take this Billy."

"She'll be fine, Tommy. You're just worried. I'm sure that it's nothing more than your bond," Billy said as Tommy shook his head no and jerked Billy's hands away from himself. He had to have someone else understand this, because if they didn't then he was going to have a lot of trouble with everything else that was going on here. "It's normal considering everything that has happened over the last few weeks."

"She won't be fine, Billy," Tommy said, staunchly, as he pushed him away and looked at his friend. "Her body can't take anything more right now. Help me tell her what's going to happen."

"It's not going to happen. You don't know that she's pregnant and you won't know that for awhile by the way that you are acting. Everything will be fine, Tommy," Billy said, unbelieving as Tommy stood and tried to walk up the stairs. "You'll be with her soon enough."

"Listen to me, Billy," Tommy said, forcing the man to look at him. "I'm telling you that this is what they are waiting for and nothing good is going to come of it. You've got to help me tell her what is going to happen, so that she'll be able to do what has to be done."

"I'll help you, but she'll kill me if I'm not able to get you semi-patched up before you go see her," Billy said as Tommy barely nodded his consent as Billy continue to apply the ointment, which had made Kim scream with pain. Tommy, however, was concentrating on something else. "Tommy, why is it bothering you so much?"

"Because I'm worried, I don't want to have to deal with this sort of thing, she's my wife, and damn it I don't want to see this happen to her!" Tommy yelled as Hayley walked back downstairs and looked at Tommy.

"She wants you Tommy. She's muttering something about losing a baby…" Hayley said as Tommy hung his head and slowly began walking upstairs. "When did this happen?"

"It hasn't, technically, yet. She won't know for another four weeks," Tommy said as he raked his hands through his hair and he just looked upwards. "Teleport us home when I get up there."

"Okay," Billy said as Tommy hobbled up the stairs and disappeared. "How much trouble do you think that we're in?"

"More than you can imagine," Hayley said as she looked over at him. "The kids are still upstairs. What should we do?"

"We should go talk to them and I will, as soon as we get Kim and Tommy home safely. We have to make sure of that first," Billy said as Hayley nodded.

"It's so nice to know that they trust us to deal out this sort of news," Hayley said, sarcastically, as Billy nodded. He would have made Kim and Tommy stay to explain it themselves, but he had the feeling that they needed to talk. Things that they shouldn't know about were being presented to them far too soon and what else could he do but let them talk this all out. They didn't need any more hell to come down upon them.


	31. Home is Where the Heart Is

Their home was the same as it had been when they left but, things were definitely a little bit strained between the two of them right now. They both knew what was going to happen to their child and that neither of them could stop it. They didn't really know what was going to bring it about, but it depressed the both of them. No, they had not planned to start a family so soon, but they had not tried to prevent it either. They had just wanted to let fate take its course. Fate, however, seemed to be playing a cruel trick on them right now and it was a trick that the both of them preferred that they would never have to live through.

"Lay down, Tommy, you are in pain. I'm going to be okay, Handsome," Kim said as they stumbled into the living room, their teleportation racking their bodies with pain. She was worried about Tommy, who seemed to only be concerned about her impending distress. She knew that if he could stop it, he would, but for some reason he was unable to do that so they were just going to have to live with it and hope that it really was not as bad as it seemed.

"I'll be fine, Kimberly. It's you that I am worried about, I never thought that this would happen," Tommy said as he reached for her and pulled her in close. He had not seen her look this tired in months and he hoped that this would soon get better. It had to get better or things were going to be absolutely horrible. "I'm so sorry."

"I might not be pregnant Tommy, we only feel that something has changed. It's probably just because of your injury and how it affected me," Kim said as Tommy shook his head no and merely placed his hands on her stomach. He was sure that she was pregnant, even if she was not completely sure about it all.

"We should have waited, just a little while longer," Tommy whispered as Kim's sob broke and he picked her up and carried her to their bedroom. He was barely able to walk himself but he had finally opened the connection that Ninjor had begged them to use. He just hadn't wanted it to take all of this for it to happen.

"No, we shouldn't have. It was time, we've sacrificed too much to not be able to have some happiness with each other," Kim whispered as she gave him a kiss and he sat down, roughly, on their bed. "You need to rest Tommy, those are going to take more out of you than you can imagine."

"I'll be fine Kim, I'm worried about you, though," Tommy said as Kim kissed his cheek and gently stroked his hair and watched as he fell asleep. He was in pain and there was not much she could do to get it to stop, but get him to sleep.

She slowly got up and walked out of the room, crying as she went. She couldn't believe that Tommy was hurt this badly and the ache inside her was even worse, as she knew he was in a restless sleep. The moment that he came back, he knew something was wrong, something that he could not really control. It did not take him long to search and find it once he admitted that he felt something was different with him, like a part of himself was somewhere else. He hadn't wanted to figure it out, but he did in only a matter of minutes. It was the only think that had made any sense to him.

She had felt the same like something had lingered from last night, but she didn't know what it was until Tommy came back. Something inside her lurched, giving her the most pain and nausea she had felt in years. It wasn't as if she could make it stop and Tommy's pain punctuated the bit inside her that felt his pain, more than the rest. It was like he was there with her and when her mind had finally come back to itself, she knew one thing. That she was pregnant and that something bad was going to happen and Tommy knew exactly what it was. She didn't want to know, but the sinking feeling she got told her that Tommy was going to tell her, he had to. He couldn't live with himself if he didn't tell her and something happened.

His confession that she was going to lose the baby made her sick to her stomach. She couldn't believe that this would happen to them, but with the way their life was, she begrudgingly understood it all. They were going to be in some sort of battle that would make her lose the baby. It wouldn't be natural, otherwise they probably wouldn't have this warning. She didn't want to get attached when no test would tell her for another month what was happening with her body. She didn't want to know about this, she wanted to be like a normal woman who could have it surprise them when they suddenly didn't have a week of torture. She wasn't going to get that. She wasn't even going to be able to enjoy being pregnant.

They had both know that this might happen when they got married. They had known that she wasn't on birth control, they had known that she might get pregnant at any time. They had known the risks, but they had not cared about them. They needed each other more than anything else in the world and they could no longer deny themselves, even if others wanted them to do that. She was desperate for him to just hold her, but tonight was not the night to be with him. Tonight was the night for her to come to grips with the reality of her life now, with the reality of what was going to happen, unless she did something to stop it.

--------------

"What's going on?" Kira asked as Billy and Hayley sat down in separate chairs. They could see the stress that was occurring, but they couldn't see a way to stop it. They had heard too much downstairs and they didn't want for Billy or Hayley to say anything to them about it, but they could tell that they were going to. They needed to be informed, for some reason.

"You saw what Mesogogg did to Tommy, but it seems like the bond between Kim and Tommy has strengthened. They're able to feel conditions and…" Billy said as he could no longer find any words to explain what Tommy had told them. There was not really anything for him to say. They all knew what was going to happen now and there was nothing that they could do to put a true stop to it.

"It's about to be really rough on them, considering what Tommy knows is going to happen. We can only hope that it will give them strength to do what they have to do," Hayley said as Billy looked over at her, grateful that she had been able to come up with something to say. He didn't know how to explain about the fact that Tommy had said Kim was going to lose the baby and the kids didn't need to worry about that right now.

"No really, what the hell is going on here," Kira said staring at them hard. There was a lot more that didn't make sense than Dr. O knowing that Kim was pregnant. "Tommy wanted me to take Conner back and then he would come. Is he losing his mind? Did he not notice that I could no longer recognize that he even had a chest?"

"No, he knew what he was doing, he just didn't want for you to get hurt. You're kids and the both of them don't think that any of you need to be going on missions like that. If Kim hadn't been in so much pain that she couldn't move, she would have gone to get him instead of one of you. The two of them don't want anyone else risking their lives for them," Billy said as Kira nodded, although it didn't make a lot of sense to her. She knew that the two of them were willing to give anything for each other, but they were not willing to let others do that. They didn't seem to want to anyone else to become connected to them.

"But they've got to learn to ask for help when they need it," Meagan said as Billy and Hayley exchanged a glance.

"Their help is each other, when others are involved it just seems to complicate things," Billy said, simply, as the teenagers just shook their heads. They could not believe that at all.

"And what happens when the two of them have that sort of thing happen again? They feel each other's pain far too much and it didn't help them this time, it hurt them," Conner said as Billy let out a sigh. There was nothing else that he could do about that. He knew that saying that was worthless, but these kids wanted some answers.

"I hate to say this to you, but you just have to talk to them, because there is nothing that I can say to make you understand it, hell even I don't understand all of it and I've been around this type of thing for years. There is always something new that happens with every team that you have to learn to adapt to," Billy said, as he let out a sigh and Conner looked at them. He was pushing them too far, to a place where they didn't really know Kimberly and Tommy, but what else could he do? He couldn't help but ask because he saw this type of thing happening again, even if they didn't want for it to happen. There was just too much of a chance of this actually going on again.

"We'll go home and just let us know when they call any of you," Kira said as she reached for Conner's hand and gently pulled him up from his chair. "Thanks, Billy."

"You're welcome," Billy said as the teens left and he sank back down into the chair that he had only briefly evacuated. "We need to call the others."

"Billy, go home to Kat and we'll worry about this tomorrow. There is nothing we can do tonight and the others are going to want to talk to Kim and Tommy. I know that they don't want that tonight. They want some time alone with each other and we need to give them an opportunity to have that," Hayley said as Billy nodded and then walked back downstairs to lock up the Command Center and then go home.

------------

"Why are you so nervous?" Demetri asked, as she could feel exactly how tense Nadrox's muscles were as she placed her hands on his shoulders.

"There was something about them this morning, something that I can't quite place my finger on. There is something different going on here, something we didn't expect," Nadrox said, solemnly, as Demetri just smiled at her brother.

"Of course there is something different going on. What did you expect out of them brother? They are everything we were told they would be and more," Demetri said as Nadrox silenced her as his hand moved up in a motion that she clearly understood.

"Our time is near sister. I can feel him coming," Nadrox whispered as Demetri looked around the place, trying to find a way to make sense of everything that was going on. Just this morning, they had been sure they would be waiting several more months. Now, it seemed that they were going to be asked to attack immediately.

"We were sent here to destroy the rangers, Nadrox," Demetri said as Nadrox merely nodded. He understood that, but there was not much that he could do to be able to make the feeling he had go away. It was like he knew that they would be going to their death.

"We were sent to try," Nadrox said as Demetri looked over at him, frightened that he did not think that it was possible anymore.

"With that attitude it won't happen," Alamadine said as he walked up to Nadrox and Demetri. "What do you sense about them that makes you sure that you no longer need to go after them?"

"They're too strong," Nadrox said as Alamadine just shook his head.

"The woman has a great weakness, take away that and you will take away much of their will to fight. It is time for you to act!" Alamadine yelled as he vanished and Nadrox and Demetri merely looked at each other. The time had come for them to show what they were and they had to pull this off correctly. They would not have a second chance at their destiny.


	32. Dreams that Hurt

"Tommy…" Kim groaned as she tossed and turned in sleep, distressed by what she was seeing. She could not believe that they were going to be coming for them so soon. She had to tell Tommy about this as quickly as she could, so that they would be able to prepare themselves for what was to come. "Tommy!"

"Wake up, it's all right. Come on, wake up, Beautiful," Tommy said as he hobbled in after hearing her call his name. He hated it when she called out in terror like this, it made everything inside of him squirm. It made him remember the times in the past when this had happened to her and it made everything seem so much more real to him. It made him remember that they were in the middle of a battle for their lives and that was something he could not take. "Everything is okay Kim, wake up. It's going to be okay baby, just wake up."

"Tommy," Kim gasped as she jerked awake and then threw her arms around him, tears streaming down her cheeks. She hoped that he could make all of this go away, really go away. She didn't want for him to confirm any of it, she wanted him to just say that it was all a dream and that none of it would come true, although they both knew that was not the case. What she had dreamt about had probably happened and this just happened to be the little warning that they were getting for all of their troubles.

"What's wrong?" Tommy asked as he pulled her into his lap as he sat down on the couch. He hadn't realized how tired he was and was shocked when he woke up to hear her yelling his name, but she was not next to him. They hadn't slept in separate beds for so long that he had forgotten what it was like to have that happen and he wanted to make sure that it would not happen again. He didn't know if he could take that type of added stress right now, with everything else that was on his mind, namely her and how she was going to take the next few weeks.

"They're going to come for us, soon," Kim said as Tommy's expression faltered as he sat there, shocked. This was not the type of thing he thought she would be screaming out into the night. He thought that maybe she had another dream of Mesogogg killing him, which would be much more real after the events of the last day. He had not thought that their connection to Demetri and Nadrox would haunt her sleep tonight, but obviously he had been wrong. She had been too wound up to even try to keep them away from their thoughts tonight. "They're planning everything right now."

"Then that's why," Tommy muttered as Kim was barely able to nod as he lowered his head onto her shoulder and let out a sigh. He had prayed that it would be natural causes, not something in the ranger world that did this to her. He knew that he should have known that it would only be ranger related, but all he wanted to do was hope that everything would be all right. Somehow all of this would be able to work out and they would be all right in the end. "Come on, let's go back to sleep, we'll worry about it in the morning."

"I don't know, Tommy. I feel like we need to be doing something, not just waiting for them to come for us," Kim said as Tommy leaned back and she looked down at him. She could see the blood seeping through his bandages and she stood up to gather the bag that Billy had sent with them. She knew that she didn't need for those to sit for too long.

"Kim, where are you…" Tommy began as he tried to follow her, but she merely motioned for him to stay where he was.

"You've bled through those," Kim said as she pushed him back on the couch and he then turned to where he could lay down. "Sit up for a second."

"You don't have to do this right now," Tommy said as Kim straddled him and began unwinding the bandages as he just stared at her. "Kim…"

"What?" Kimberly asked as she continued to do her work, oblivious to her husband's reaction to their current position. "Tommy, what are you looking at?"

"Don't worry about it," Tommy muttered as Kim began applying the alcohol and watched as he barely cringed. His mind was elsewhere and she knew that all too well by the look in his eyes. Whatever he was thinking about had nothing to do with ranger work and everything to do with her. "How are you?"

"I'm okay, I just wanted for things to be different. I didn't want our life to turn out like this," Kim muttered as he moved to where she had better access to the injuries on his stomach and he cringed as she put the ointment on him. "I'm sorry, Tommy, I'll be done in a second."

"It'll be okay, I know that you have to do this," Tommy said as he squirmed and she, for the first time, realized what she was doing to him.

"I'm sorry," Kim said as she crawled off of him and he let out a groan of displeasure. He wanted for her to just stay still for a little bit longer.

"Come back here," Tommy said as he pulled her back into his lap and held out the bandages. He was going to insist that she stay with him. She was the only comfort that he had right now. "We need to enjoy each other while we can. We both know that things are going to get rough, very soon."

"You're hurt Tommy," Kim muttered as he gently pulled off her glasses and she tried to grab them back from him. She knew what he was trying to do and she couldn't let him do that. She had to take care of him, because he was not going to take care of himself if she left it up to him. "I need to be able to see in order for me to get these bandages on you."

"I'm fine without them for a little while," Tommy said as Kim shook her head in denial. She knew that he was bleeding too heavily and he certainly would not have let her get away with that sort of thing, when she had the same injury. "I want you to relax, you've been tense all day, Kim. Everything is okay, I'm back safely and that is all that matters."

"You've been with Mesogogg all day, I had a reason to be tense and every time he hit you, I felt some pain that was deeper and when you almost passed out, that pushed me over the edge. I'm glad you didn't, otherwise I would have been a lot more sick than I was. I've never felt like this before Tommy and it scares me," Kim managed to say as he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. He was worried about her, but he thought that she was going to be fine, at least for the time being. He could feel that she was settling into some of the ideas that he had told her about, but he could also feel that she was trying not to get attached to the baby that they would never have. He just didn't think that she would be able to accomplish that at all.

"I'm fine, Kim, relax," Tommy whispered as her head rested on his shoulder and she quickly drifted off to sleep. He looked down at his chest, which was half bandaged and he reach over for the other bandage, so that he could finish it himself. He wanted to let her sleep, as she had been put through the same hell he had been through, but her revelation wouldn't let him go to sleep right away.

He had known that they were going to have to fight these beings; they had basically gone and begged them to fight this morning. That, however, was before he got the gut wrenching feeling that she was pregnant. He wanted for her to be able to have this baby. He didn't want for this to happen. He wanted for their lives to be a little less riddled with problems, however that was all that she felt right now. She felt that everything was going wrong and even he felt that to a point, but he was trying to be strong. He was trying to make her feel better, because she desperately needed it. She needed some hope from him right now.

--------------

"Jason, you know that we shouldn't be here. We need to let them rest," Trini said as they stood at the door of Kim's gymnastics school, early the next morning. They needed to talk to their friends, but this was not how she imagined doing it. She imagined calling them when they had had time to wake up and then them going out for breakfast and casually chatting about the hell that was about to be brought down upon them. That seemed like it was much more realistic than barging in on them and praying that they did not kill them. "Jase, please, let's just come back later."

"Trini, if I was worried about them getting enough rest I'd definitely consider waiting, but we need to see them. Everything that has been going on only points to one thing," Jason said as he reached to knock on the door, but it swung open for them. Neither of them thought that this was a good sign, but they continued into the room any ways.

"All right, but don't be surprised when throw us out," Trini said as they started towards her office and found it locked, which was not a surprise. Kim had always been good about locking that door, even if she didn't lock anything else. "What are we going to do now?"

"Break down the door," Jason said as he kicked the door open and looked into Kimberly's office, which had not been touched since the previous day.

"She's going to kill us," Trini said following Jason up the stairs and into their apartment. When Billy had called them and explained everything that had happened, they hadn't been able to believe it. They couldn't possibly know some of the things that they claimed they did and they were here to try to talk them out of everything that was going on. They needed to get the two of them thinking straight again, quickly.

"She'll get over it," Jason said as Trini just shook her head. This was not going to be an easy thing to deal with when they came downstairs and saw their door broken down.

"Yeah, nice," Trini said as Jason just shook his head. When they walked upstairs, they saw the two of them lying on the couch, in what had to be an uncomfortable position. "At least they slept good."

"I wouldn't say that," Jason said as he walked over to the two of them and gently shook Kim, who slowly woke up with her face semi-covered in blood. They knew exactly where it came from, so they didn't really worry about it. "Hey, Kim."

"What are you doing here?" Kim asked as she felt her face and then looked down at Tommy's chest, which was still not fully covered, as she had never managed it. She had fallen asleep before she had been able to cover it up. "Oh no…Tommy wake up…come on, wake up."

"Hey," Tommy said as he gave her a weak smile and then a kiss. "Sorry, I didn't have the heart to wake you once you got to sleep."

"I've got to wrap you up, you shouldn't have slept like this," Kim said as she jumped up, but she suddenly found herself kneeling on the floor as her stomach heaved.

"No sudden moves," Tommy said as he kneeled down beside her and gathered her into his arms and rocked her back and forth. He could feel her trembling and he knew that he needed to get her calmed down as soon as possible. There was always a chance that things would go really bad very soon and he had to do what he could to prevent that from happening. "Can you get some crackers out of the cabinet?"

"Yeah," Trini said as Kim held onto Tommy tightly, barely able to keep her eyes open.

"It's okay, Kim. You'll be fine," Tommy whispered as he felt something heave inside himself and he had to let go of her as he found himself sprawled on the floor as well.

"What's going on with the two of you?" Jason asked as Nadrox and Demetri materialized in the middle of the room and grabbed the two retching rangers. "No!"

"They'll be fine Jason," Trini said as she grabbed him and pulled him back. She did not want for him to pay for any of this by getting in the way. "We all knew that this day was coming when they would have to fight and it's time that they really do fight."

"Did you just see what was going on here?" Jason asked as Trini nodded. She had seen everything, but she knew better than to say anything about it. She had to be positive.

"Since when have Kim and Tommy not been able to get this type of thing to work for them? They'll work a way through it. This is what they're best at, otherwise they would have never been on this many ranger teams. We both know that, deep down," Trini said as Jason just shook his head. He had not liked the look on either of their faces, he knew this was the beginning of their problem.

"They aren't in their best condition Trini," Jason stated as Trini just looked away from him. What else could she do, considering everything else that was going on?

---------------

"Now that we have them what are we going to do?" Demetri asked as Nadrox watched Tommy crawl over to Kim and gather her in his arms, attempting to wake her up. He did not want to have to fight without her by his side.

"Isn't it obvious?" Nadrox asked bringing out his sword as Tommy looked from his wife to the sword and just pushed her as far away from the area as he could. He knew that he could hold the two of them off for a good amount of time, even if he was hurt. He just had to get Kim back to him, that was what he was the most worried about right now.

"Like hell you are," Tommy said as he stood up and faced the two beings in front of him. It didn't matter that he felt an ache in the pit of him that told him what was happening to the woman next to him. He had to fight, because if he didn't the both of them would die.

"Nice to see that you still want to fight," Nadrox said as Tommy summoned his sword and glared at the two of them. If he had to kill both of them, then he would. He was not going to let them kill Kimberly, even if it took him dying, they would not kill her.

"What choice do I really have?" Tommy asked as Nadrox just shook his head at the man in front of him. He seemed resolved to bring this to an end, even if he didn't have the ability that he would usually have to do that sort of thing. That scared Nadrox, but he also knew that with his wife lying to the side, passed out, that he was not going to be completely concentrating on what was in front of him.

"You could always just give us what we want," Demetri said as Tommy looked back at Kim one more time and then focused his energy into the two beings in front of him.

"Never," Tommy said as he swung at Nadrox and the man crashed to the ground, slightly surprised by Tommy's strength. He had not expected this out of Tommy, considering the injuries that were so obvious. What had they not calculated into the chance that they had taken this morning?


	33. Finishing the Job

Demetri soon found herself lying on the floor, unsure of why this was happening. Nothing had happened to her to make her feel faint, but she was, at the very least a tad bit faint. Her brother and Tommy were in an intense battle and all she had to do was wait for Nadrox to defeat Tommy and then she would be able to easily go after Kimberly. The woman hadn't moved since they had brought her here, so she was sure it would be easy, until she passed out as well.

"Demetri!" Nadrox yelled as Tommy just shook his head. He would not be surprised if the two of them were now fighting in Kimberly's subconscious. It was definitely something that she would be able to pull off if no one else was able to. She knew just how important this battle was and even if her body was not able to fight, her mind was more than able to do so.

"They'll take care of each other," Tommy said as he went right back to fighting. He knew that his fight was going to be the physical one and Kimberly's was going to be the mental one. He just needed for her to be able to pull it off, considering everything that was happening. He knew that she might be going through a lot of pain and he didn't know if she would be able to focus and just do what had to be done for the time being.

-------------

"Where am I?" Demetri asked as Kimberly stalked towards her, furious about what was happening. She could feel her body betraying her and she could feel what this was going to cost her and Tommy. She, however, knew that this was not the time to truly worry about what was going on with her. This was the time to let all hell break loose upon Demetri. She knew that Tommy was relying on her to be able to do this, because if she didn't manage it, then it would not matter what he was able to do. She would die and he would come along with her.

"You're on my turf now," Kimberly said as Demetri turned to face her, absolutely shocked to hear the woman that was talking to her. She was sure that she was still solidly passed out when she hit the floor only a few seconds ago, so how was it possible for her to be facing her? "You wanted this to end and now it will."

"As if you can even touch me," Demetri said as Kimberly merely held out her bow and looked at Demetri. She was not scared of what might happen, if she did or didn't die. She knew that Tommy would be there for her either way and that actually comforted her, because she knew that he would be there even if they were no longer living. Even if they were as good as dead, he would be with her every step of the way. The bond was something that definitely made them stronger when they were looking into tough times.

"You haven't seen me do anything, you don't know what I am capable of," Kim said as Demetri just stared at her and then was slung backwards by her as they heard a clash and groan from somewhere not quite where they were. "Tommy…good job. Now, let's go."

"Go?" Demetri asked as Kimberly managed to begin throwing things at the woman in front of her and she was ducking, scared out of her mind. She didn't think that this was possible to have happen, but it was obvious that it was and there was nothing that she could do to change it. She had been so anxious to fight Kimberly that she had not even taken the time to try to figure out how evenly matched they might be and from what she was seeing, she knew that it was very likely that this would not be anywhere near a draw.

"Come on, it's not like you really expected me to just lie around while Tommy and Nadrox fought. Your ass was coming to where I could fight you, considering the fact that you did this to me, I think it's appropriate that you have to come here to battle me," Kim said as Demetri found herself lying flat on her back. The little ranger had a lot more punch than she had ever imagined. She had been sure that it would not be hard to defeat her, even if Tommy was around and trying to protect her.

"You are an easy person to fight," Demetri said as Kim laughed. Demetri could not break her down by saying that. There was only one thing she could do to break her down right now. Demetri didn't know that she was pregnant so she wouldn't attack her with that purpose in mind. Kim just had to make sure that she didn't allow herself to get hit there too often. She had to try to protect the baby, even if Tommy was sure that she was going to have a miscarriage very soon.

"Then break me down," Kim challenged as Demetri slung her to the ground and Kim immediately pulled herself to her feet. She was determined that what Tommy had felt would not happen. She knew that it might be useless, but it kept her going right now.

"You're pregnant?" Demetri leered as Kim's eyes widened, she should have realized not to think about that here. There was definitely a connection between the two of them that allowed them to know things that they should have never been able to figure out. "We can take a baby away? I wonder if Nadrox knows what is truly at stake here."

"He doesn't and you won't take my baby away," Kim said as she placed an arrow on the string at the same time that Demetri began to swing. They hit each other at the same moment and both of them awoke from their state with a start. They had finished it, one of them was going to die, but they just didn't know which one and they would just have to wait and see.

"She's pregnant Nadrox, get her. Kill her and you'll take a greater part of him with you," Demetri said as she breathed her last, as Kim was clutching her side, trying to pour her healing into their child, like she had been able to with Tommy. She did not want to lose this baby, she desperately wanted for things to be good for them, not shitty. Things like this were never really worth it.

"Just fight," Kim muttered, sensing Tommy's concern as Nadrox swung at him, but by some miracle missed.

"She took my sister!" Nadrox yelled as Tommy managed to throw him away, but he heard him get up as he went to check on Kimberly.

"You have to get out of here," Tommy whispered as he pulled her hand away from her stomach and saw the wound. The blood made him worry, but what made him worry even more was where she had been injured. He knew what that might do to her and he hoped that all of it would work out perfectly fine.

"I'm not leaving you here alone," Kim said as she pulled him flat on his stomach to avoid him being struck by Nadrox. "You have to fight for the both of us, okay? I need you to do that for me Tommy."

"Don't worry," Tommy said as he pulled himself up and faced Nadrox.

"This isn't going to happen," Nadrox said, determinedly as Tommy sliced him and watched as he fell to the ground. Tommy didn't like the idea of cold blooded murder, but as far as he was concerned, this man had asked for it when he tried to attack Kimberly. He knew he was going to lose his child, but he couldn't lose Kim. He had to make sure that he saved his wife, no matter what it was going to cost him when he thought back on all of this.

"Just like Zordon, don't want to really kill me, just injury me," Nadrox said as Tommy looked between Kim and Nadrox. She was paler than she had been in a very long time and he was scared of what would happen if he didn't manage this quickly. He did not want to see his wife die. "It almost cost him, although you may already have lost her."

"She did not kill her!" Tommy roared as he slammed Nadrox into the nearest wall and pegged him there with the sword, trembling in his hand. He could not bring himself to kill another, he just couldn't do it.

"Tommy," Kim murmured as she passed out and he managed to ram the sword through Nadrox, which caused the room to blast open and the two of them landed back in their apartment, where their friends only stared at them.

It was as if something had washed over the world, over the universe perhaps. They had seen the change, had seen what had happened, but they saw that their friends were in deep trouble. They felt that all the evil that the rangers dealt with was gone, except maybe Mesogogg, but that was more or less because that was something that had a direct connection with Kimberly and Tommy. They were sure that Kim and Tommy would take care of him as soon as they were back on their feet.

"Do you think that they're all right?" Trini asked as Tommy rolled over and managed to push himself into a seated position. He knew that something was really wrong with Kimberly, but he didn't have the will to wake her up. He knew that he needed to take a couple of deep breaths and try to bring himself back to reality. "Hey, Tommy, stay with us."

"You have to wake her up. You have to convince her to heal herself, not the baby," Tommy said as he passed out and Trini looked over at Jason. This was going to take a lot more than just waking her up and telling her that Tommy was passed out.

"This is going to kill her, you know that," Trini said as Jason started to shake Kimberly's arm and she slowly rolled over and woke up. "We have orders from your husband, he said not to save the baby and to save yourself. You'll have a chance for another baby."

"I'm going to save the baby," Kim said as Trini pulled her up close to her face. She had to get Kimberly to understand something quickly, if she didn't then they were going to lose the both of them right here and she couldn't stand to see that happen.

"If you die and the baby lives then nothing else will happen, Kimberly. You'll both be gone, look at him. If you don't heal yourself and let the baby go, then you'll lose each other. Tommy needs you to do this, I know it hurts, but you have to save yourself," Trini said as Kimberly's eyes filled with tears and she looked away from him. This was something that she didn't want to hear about. She had wanted to be able to save both of them. "Kim, I'm begging you here. If you don't save yourself, he'll die and you won't have a child together because you'll both be dead."

"Okay," Kim whispered as she closed her eyes and they watched as the wound on her side began to heal and she got some color back in her cheeks, which caused Tommy to wake up. He was scared to death of what he would see when he looked over at Kimberly, but all he saw was a mass of brown hair obscure his vision as he was pressed back down against the floor.

"Kimberly," Tommy whispered as he gently pushed her hair away so that he could see her face. He could see the pain and the worry there, but he could also see the elation that was coming out through her. They had managed to get rid of Nadrox and Demetri and live through the ordeal. They had managed to do what even Dulcea and Ninjor thought impossible. "We've done it."

"But what have we lost?" Kim asked as she began to sob and Tommy pulled her closer. He then looked up and saw Jason and Trini which surprised him. He had been sure that they had not been here when they left.

"We'll have another child, Kimberly," Tommy whispered as he cradled her in his arms and watched as her eyelids drooped and he shook her, rather violently. He did not need for her to pass out on him right now. "Come on, stay with me. Kim, come on."

"Do we need to call an ambulance?" Jason asked as Tommy looked down at his own chest and then at his wife. He knew that the paramedics would have a problem deciding whether to take Kim or himself first.

"Let's get some bandages on me and then we can call them. I want them to take care of her, not me," Tommy said as Jason walked over to the bag that Tommy indicated and began pulling out supplies.

"Are you sure that you're okay?" Trini asked as they began wrapping Tommy up and he nodded. He was fine, he was much more worried about the reaction that Kim was having right now.

"I'm fine Trini, but we need to take care of my wife," Tommy said as she nodded. She had not expected any less from him and the blood that Kimberly was losing was starting to worry her as well.

"The ambulance is on the way," Jason said as Tommy barely nodded as he walked over to his limp wife and scooped her up in his arms. He was so worried that he would still lose her. He couldn't stand himself if that happened. "Tommy what happened?"

"I'm not even sure about half of it myself Jason," Tommy admitted as he let out a sigh and began shaking with his madness at the situation. "She should have never been put in that position. It shouldn't have been something that she was forced to choose about. She should have been able to save herself and the baby."

"But she couldn't save you too," Jason pointed out as Tommy froze as he had been about to kiss her on the forehead. It had never occurred to Tommy that Kim was the one keeping him alive during that battle. "I'm so sorry about that Tommy."

"The doctors won't even be able to tell that she was pregnant, it only happened two nights ago," Tommy muttered as Jason and Trini exchanged a glance. That was more information than they wanted to hear from him. They knew that there were certain aspects of Kimberly and Tommy's relationship that they had always questioned, but now they were finding out more than they ever wanted to know. "We waited so long, to try to keep this from happening and it happens anyway."

"You'll be okay," Trini whispered as she put her arms around Tommy and let him cry on her shoulder. He was in pain and he was worried about his wife. He had never felt like this, never felt like all of this would happen to them. They were married, they were supposed to be happy, but now everything was going straight to hell again. He didn't know how much more he could take, but he certainly would take whatever he had to, to guarantee that she would be all right. It was all that really mattered to him anymore.


	34. Hospital Stay

The sun was beginning to rise on Angel Grove, as several people sat in the waiting room of Angel Grove Hospital, hoping that the news would not be as they expected it. That somehow Kim was not having a miscarriage and that it was just her injuries causing her to pass out and lose so much blood. The young rangers had been called after they arrived at the hospital, all of them knowing that they would want to see their mentors. They needed to know what was left to be done, but they also needed to be able to have some time to realize what was happening. Kim and Tommy were not going to really be there for them anymore. Their job had been finished and now they just had to insure that Mesogogg went away for good and then they could go into a very peaceful retirement. They all knew that the two of them had decided that they would never be rangers again.

"You think that they'll let us go see them?" Kira asked, as Trini looked over at her and shrugged her shoulders. She had not been home to change and still had a mixture of Kim and Tommy's blood all over her. Several of the other people in the waiting room didn't understand what could possibly be happening, but they didn't want to ask. The grave look that all of them held was enough to keep them away.

"Eventually yes, but right now there are still a lot of tests that need to be performed. They are not even sure that she's pregnant, although Tommy kinda said they wouldn't be able to tell," Jason said as the young rangers barely nodded. They had spent more time at hospitals than they wanted to remember, but they had no choice. Everything that had been happening with Dr. O and Kim had brought them here. They couldn't let their fellow rangers be left behind, just because they had come to hate hospitals, but they were afraid that their hate was nowhere near as bad as Kim and Tommy's hate for these places. "Look, your job still hasn't changed."

"We know," Conner said, as they had already heard this about a hundred times since they had arrived. They knew that the other rangers were nervous that they would quit fighting, but they knew that Mesogogg was still out there and that was not Kim and Tommy's responsibility. They had fulfilled what they had to and now it was time for them to do the exact same thing.

"Hey guys," Tommy said as he walked into the waiting room and sat down. He was tired and he knew that this night would not end for a very long time. Kim was not in good condition right now, even though the doctors had managed to stop the bleeding. There was still far too much damage done that could not be reversed. They were just going to have to let nature take its course and give her time to heal, time that none of them were sure that she would have.

"Do you want me to take you home?" Jason asked as Tommy looked like he was about to collapse from exhaustion. He had had a long day and none of them would think badly of him if he just wanted to go home and sleep it off. "Someone else can go sit with her while you get some rest."

"I'm going back, I just wanted to tell you that she's sleeping and that she'll be okay," Tommy said, quietly, as the others looked at him. He had purposely left out a couple of things. He needed time to deal with it all himself before he could tell them about it.

"I'm not sure your definition of okay will work this time," Mr. Hart said as Tommy looked over at him. He was not sure that he would control himself right now. Too much had happened tonight for him to be able to keep his emotions in check without someone stepping in. He knew that Mr. Hart meant well, but he couldn't take someone questioning what he had said happened. Her bruises were obvious and the story of her slipping down the stairs was the only thing that they could come up with and everyone there knew that Kim could be clumsy. That was the only thing that was saving them from people pointing the finger at Tommy and him having to tell more of the truth than was wise. "That's my daughter in there passed out."

"She's my wife. I wouldn't do anything to her," Tommy muttered as he stood up. He was not really thinking about what he was doing, he was just reacting on his gut instinct right now.

"Who is to say that you didn't do this? We all know that you are perfectly capable of it and it's convenient that you happen to have stairs that Kim would 'slip' down," Mr. Hart challenged as Tommy's fists opened and closed, while Jason pulled him back into his seat.

Tommy didn't need to prove that he was more than capable of doing such a thing in a hospital waiting room full of witnesses. He needed to keep his cool so that they would be able to talk this out when the both of them were in more reasonable moods. Mr. Hart didn't know the half of what happened today and if he did, he would probably think long and hard before he even talked to Tommy. The others could see the emotions that were building inside of him, but Mr. Hart seemed to be completely ignoring it.

"Go back to her," Jason said as Tommy glared at Jason and then walked off. He had to keep himself in control for her, because it would do her no good if he wound up in jail for putting her father in the hospital. "Mr. Hart, you know Tommy wouldn't do anything to her."

"My child is back there bleeding to death, someone must have caused that and it seems that he is the only one that has been around her for the last few weeks," Mr. Hart said as Jason hung his head. He did not want to tell the man what was truly going on. "Who is to say that this is not just something that has built up over those weeks? That he's been doing this for the past few weeks without any of you knowing about it."

"She had a miscarriage. They just wanted to keep it to themselves, since they hadn't told any of you yet," Jason lied as Mr. Hart's temper waned and he sat there in silent shock. He hadn't even known that he was going to be a grandfather. "Tommy wouldn't do this to her, you should know that about him by now. He loves her more than anyone else in the world and you don't need to forget that again. You're lucky that he cares about Kim and walked away from what you said…"

-------------

Tommy walked into the hospital room, while trying to gather his thoughts. The doctors had not been able to confirm or deny that Kim had been pregnant, although they did agree that the miscarriage had already occurred before they had gotten there. He knew that there were things about his life that he had regretted, not going after her all those years ago being one of them. It would have never been this bad if the two of them had been together, they would not have been desperate and done things that they never in a million years thought that they would do.

Neither of them regretted getting married, they had talked about that the night that they told all the others. Even though it hurt their friends to not be at the ceremony, they knew that they needed to be together. They were not the sort of people that could stand to be away from each other for a very long amount of time. They had learned that their friendship and relationship was worth everything to them, everything. The couple of weeks that they had lived together without being married let them know that there did not need to be anymore waiting. They needed to move on with their lives because if they didn't then Mesogogg, Nadrox, Demetri, any evil in the universe would have won because of the fear they inflicted. They were not afraid of what would happen. They just wanted each other and that was all that mattered to them, period.

"Tommy…" Kim whispered as she opened her eyes and saw the outline of a man sitting beside her. She knew that he was the only person that the hospital staff would allow to be with her. They had both fought for that for far too long when they had arrived. It didn't matter if the waiting room was full of people, until the two of them could manage to make some sense out of things, they needed to be alone. They needed to have some sort of peace in their lives.

"Hey," Tommy said as he bent down and gave her a kiss on the forehead. He hadn't wanted for her to wake up, he wanted for her to rest. She needed that rest right now, more than anything else that he could give her.

"I lost the baby, didn't I?" Kim asked as Tommy barely nodded his head yes as he watched the tears trail down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry about, you saved me, Kimberly. If you hadn't let go, we'd both be dead," Tommy said as Kim looked over at him confused, as he then pulled off his shirt and pulled down some of the bandages. His wounds were almost healed and he could only say that one person had done that for him and she was laying on the bed in front of him.

"I did that because I love you Tommy. Why wouldn't you let me save the baby?" Kim asked as Tommy quietly picked her up and then lay down beside her.

"Because I would have lost you and even if you had managed to save the baby, you'd die. I couldn't lose you Kim," Tommy whispered as she leaned heavily on him and he gently stroked down her hair.

"Was it worth it?" Kim asked as Tommy nodded his head yes. He knew that she didn't really remember what had happened with Nadrox and Demetri, which was a blessing and a curse. She did not need to remember the way that they had had to end the battle. The way that they had had to kill, which was something that they had never truly thought they would do.

"They're gone, but I still don't know if it was worth it to lose everything that we've lost," Tommy said as Kim just looked up at the ceiling. She did not want to have to deal with this sort of thing right now. She wanted Tommy to not be honest with her; she was in too much pain to care.

"Don't tell me that, Tommy. I need to know that everything is all right and that we will be fine," Kim said as Tommy looked over at her and saw in her eyes that she was more upset than she had been in months, perhaps maybe even years. She needed for him to say that their sacrifice was worth it, because she was having a very hard time being able to say that it really was worth it. "Please, just lie to me, Tommy."

"I can't do that, Kim," Tommy whispered as he kissed her cheek and she began crying, in earnest. "But we'll be okay, we'll make it through this. No one else but us can know that it was a miscarriage. The doctors just say that because they have no other explanation. I'm so sorry, Kimberly."

"You're not any good at this," Kim said with a strangled laugh as Tommy gave her a sad smile and kissed her on the cheek.

"I'm sorry, Kim. It's just not something that I ever thought I'd have to…" Tommy said with a strangled sob and he then pulled her into a tight hug. He just wanted to push this out of his head. He wanted to make it all better, but he didn't know if he would be able to do that, as it was going to take awhile to even attempt it.

"I know," Kim whispered as he began stroking her hair and rubbing her back. Her eyes slowly began to close and after several minutes she drifted off into a peaceful sleep, followed only a few minutes later by Tommy.

Neither of them heard when their friends came in later on that night. Jason, Trini, Aisha, and Rocky all wanted to see the other two, even if it was just to look at them. That was how they had convinced Billy to teleport them to the hospital. They had not seen them look like this in a long time and the protection that was being displayed let them know that Tommy still knew that there was a fight. The two of them would never lose the powers that they had now and they were stuck with each other. Everything here let them know that things were still shaky, Mesogogg had been a son of a bitch to them and they had suffered more injuries at his hand than anyone else they had ever encountered. They had to make all of this work, if they didn't then they would see that everything they had sacrificed had not been worth it all.


	35. Coming Around to the Good Side

"You feel different, don't you?" Mesogogg asked as Ben barely nodded. He didn't know what had changed, but something had, he just wasn't sure if he should really admit to it. He did not want to undergo any torture, but he was almost sure that was headed his way. Things had not been going well around here for the last few weeks with their failed attempts to defeat the rangers and Tommy's escape from their torture session. "This is what I was worried about."

"What's that?" Ben asked as Mesogogg began positioning his laser, as Ben just looked over at him. What was this thing planning to do to him? He had done anything to piss him off today.

"That you would begin to feel again, that you would want to treat people humanely. You'd want to go back to the human world so bad that it would become impossible for you to work here," Mesogogg said as Ben looked down, not denying or confirming his accusation. He knew that he felt bad for everything that he had put Kimberly through. She was the one person that had been there for him and for him to betray her like this was unforgivable, but he also knew that he had little chance of getting her to trust him again, unless he was able to perform some sort of miracle. "I wished that I would not have to do this."

"Mesogogg, no," Ben said as he was hit by the electrical charge that sent him into the air and he then did the one thing that he could do, teleport to Kimberly and Tommy, hoping they would help.

--------------

"What the hell are you doing here?" Hayley asked as Ben landed in the middle of her kitchen panting. He immediately looked up at her with a questioning gaze, wondering why he was here, instead of wherever Kim and Tommy were. He didn't know about the bouncing shield that had been put around Kim's room at the hospital. They had not wanted to risk Mesogogg teleporting in on them and taking one of them away again. They knew that they two of them could not take any more pain right now, considering what had happened so far.

"I need to talk with Kim and Tommy," Ben said, desperately, as he pushed himself up and Hayley gave him her own questioning gaze. Didn't he know what had happened to them? He had been around enough to surely have an idea that she was in the hospital.

"They're in the hospital, more specifically Kim's in the hospital and Tommy is not leaving her until she is able to leave," Hayley said as Ben just looked up at her. The two of them had to get out of the hospital soon; he knew that Mesogogg was planning an attack that the young rangers couldn't take. They didn't have the experience to handle it and without Kim and Tommy they would certainly be defeated. "Why do you act like that's a surprise?"

"Look, I don't have a lot of time to explain, but if I say that I made a mistake, will you help me?" Ben asked as Hayley looked over at him and then began shaking her head no. She was sure that she did not want to hear what he had to say, because his body language made her think that it was something that the rangers would not be appreciative of in the least bit.

"You sold them out? You knew everything that Mesogogg was going to do to them?" Hayley roared as Ben shrunk away and just shook his head. He had not known about a lot of it and he had some apologizing to do, but if Kim and Tommy were going to live to see that day, then they had to get to them now. He had a horrible feeling about what Mesogogg was about to do.

"I didn't know about what he was going to do to Kim and Tommy, I knew he planned to capture them. Look, I'm not proud of myself, but we have to get to them now. Their rangers cannot survive without their help," Ben said as Hayley gave him a deadly glare and then opened the hatch to the Command Center. She knew that she might regret this later, but she was going to take him to Kim and Tommy. Then she would let Tommy deal with everything that he had done to them. She was sure that the amount of pain and anger that had built up him was more than enough to take care of Ben.

"They're going to kill me," Hayley muttered as she began punching in the codes to break the barrier that they had put up over the area last night. They had to guarantee that no one would bother them, but this was definitely something that had to happen. She could not withhold this sort of information from them, when they truly deserved to have it and decide what they wished to do with him. "I promise you that if you are lying; Tommy is going to go kill you."

"Listen, I wouldn't be here if I was not trying to help," Ben said as Hayley just shook her head. She was not sure that that was going to matter once Kim and Tommy heard the story. The two of them were still likely to go ballistic because of everything that had happened.

"I'm just telling you if you hurt them, you're going to have to deal with hell from Tommy," Hayley said as Ben nodded.

"Yeah, I know," Ben said as Hayley just shook her head. She had a feeling that he didn't really understand it all. He hadn't thought of their exact reaction to the truth.

"I don't think you do Ben, you've been working with the man that has been trying to kill them lately," Hayley said as Ben suddenly went pale. He now understood why Hayley was hesitant.

Kim and Tommy might be nice to him to begin with, but once they heard it all that was going to change. They were going to ask why he did it, why he allowed Mesogogg to rape and torture his best friend, why did he let all of this happen to them? He didn't have any of the answers. He didn't know any of it would happen to them, if he had he wouldn't have gone along with it. But he might never get a chance to explain that Kim and Tommy, depending on their reaction to the more pressing matters that he had to tell them about.

"Okay, I get the point, but I have to help them. If they kill me, then at least I died trying to help them," Ben said as Hayley barely nodded. She could not believe what was going on here, but there was nothing that they could do about it. If she didn't let him help, then he would never have a chance to redeem himself. "Come on, let's go."

"You certainly aren't being patient for a man that is going to his death," Hayley said as Ben was teleported into Kimberly and Tommy's room, where he was surprised to see only Tommy wake up, as he pushed Kimberly back on the bed.

"Ben? What are you doing here?" Tommy asked as he stood up and walked over to him. The look in his eyes told him that this was not going to be a pleasant visit. He was not sure that he could take any more bad news today, considering what had happened. "If you are here to tell me that Reefside has been attacked again, then I'm sorry, but I can't help. I've got other things that I need to take care of that are just a little bit more important."

"Um…it hasn't been attacked, yet," Ben said as Tommy gave the man a curious look and then pulled him outside. He wanted for Kim to get her rest and him yelling at Ben certainly would not help with that process. He had a feeling that he was going to want to strangle the man after he was done saying whatever he had to say.

"Yet is the key word there. What's going on?" Tommy asked, rather menacingly as he walked the man down the hall, away from his wife. "You have better have a good reason to be here, because I don't have any patience right now, for anything."

"Is being Mesogogg's henchman a good enough reason to be here?" Ben asked as Tommy slammed him against the wall, causing several of the nurses to run over to him and try to pull him away, but none of them were strong enough to manage it. He wanted to kill Ben for everything that he had put Kim through, even if he had not been the one to do it, he had had to have some clue about what Mesogogg was going to do to her.

"You sold her to him?" Tommy roared as Jason ran up and man handled Tommy away from Ben. Hayley had only been able to get out the basics of the message to him, but he knew that he had better get there and keep Tommy from winding up in jail. The hospital workers would not understand in the least bit why he was trying to strangle the man. "You…"

"I didn't know he'd do anything other than capture her, Tommy," Ben said, calmly, as Jason pulled Tommy back towards Kim's room and Ben followed. He knew that he couldn't let Tommy dwell on any of it or he would be able to figure out much more than what he wanted from him to figure out.

"Bull shit. What did you think he was going to do when he got her alone? Sing her lullabies and comfort her about all the nightmares she has because of him? You are her friend! You knew what this man had done in the past! Why the hell would you help him!" Tommy yelled as Jason continued to drag him towards Kim's room. He knew that they were going to need Ben's help and then he was fine with Tommy killing him. He wanted to do it himself, but his bigger worry was that Mesogogg would get to Kim or Tommy and kill one of them without them knowing Ben's information.

"Tommy, if I had known that he would…I would have never done this…she's still my friend," Ben said as Tommy's fury continued to build.

"Do you know how much she has lost?" Tommy asked, dangerously, as Jason just shoved him into Kim's room and then slammed the door closed so that he could talk to Ben.

"You are a brave man, but I'm telling you, you betray them again in all of this and Tommy won't be your only worry," Jason threatened as Ben looked at the man in front of him. It had been less than a month ago when they had sat across from each other relaying stories over Kim's unconscious body. He had known that he would probably not have any friends, but this was absolutely ridiculous. Everyone that was involved with the rangers was shunning him and he hadn't even been able to get out the story of what was happening and he was not sure that he would be allowed to, especially if Tommy had his way.

"All right," Ben said, knowing that there was absolutely no getting out of this situation.

"You son of a bitch," Tommy said slamming Ben into a wall, as Jason closed the door and then had to pry Tommy away, again. This was not what he had expected to see happen as soon as he let the two of them be in a room together. He had thought that Tommy would be able to control himself some, but Kim's miscarriage had pushed him over the dangerous edge that he had been teetering on lately. "You let this happen to her!"

"I didn't know; if I had known she would have never been taken there. I was the one that thought of a way to get her out of there. I couldn't let that happen again. I hate myself for everything that I have done to her, but I would have died if I hadn't left on Mesogogg's terms," Ben said as Kim rolled over, but didn't wake up, which was something that Ben was not thankful for. He knew that Kim would at least listen to him. Tommy and Jason were not likely to be that rational about the situation. They cared about Kim far too much and had both been waiting for someone that they could take their frustrations out on for a very long time.

"So what were you doing while he raped her?" Tommy roared as Kim looked over at all of them and saw Ben was now here, along with Jason. But why did Jason and Tommy have him pinned against the wall.

"He knocked me out as well, when I came too I didn't know where I was, I only walked in there because I heard her crying. That was when we came up with an idea of how to get her out. I had to get her out of there," Ben said as Kim sat up and gathered the back of her hospital gown shut as she walked over to the three men.

"Guys, what's going on?" Kim asked as the three of them looked over at her and Jason and Tommy's expressions changed. They did not want for Kim to find out what Ben had done. They were afraid that it would just push her over the edge right now and they did not want for that to happen to her. She had had too much bad news over the last few days to have anymore put on her would just be too much for her to deal with. "Guys, tell me."

"Just Mesogogg," Tommy muttered as Kimberly gave him a confused look. She wasn't buying it and she was sure that there was something else that was going on here. Her friends would not be acting the way that they were if it were merely something to do with Mesogogg and she knew that Tommy knew that. She just couldn't help but wonder what he was trying to hide from her. She didn't think that there would be anything else that she would need to be protected from, but she was obviously underestimating some situation.

"It's not just Mesogogg, because the two of you would not have him backed up against the wall if it was just Mesogogg. What's going on and tell me the truth Tommy," Kim said, dangerously, as Tommy looked down at the floor. He couldn't tell her, he couldn't do this to her, no matter how much he wanted to kill Ben right now, he couldn't hurt her this much right now. If she found out that her friend had been working for Mesogogg, he didn't know what she would do. "I need to know, whatever it is, tell me."

"I've been working with Mesogogg, Kim," Ben whispered as Kim looked at him before sinking to the ground, as Tommy carefully caught her and scooped her up in his arms and she then buried her face in his neck.

"How could you?" Kim asked as Ben took a couple of steps closer and then stepped back, knowing that if he did anything foolish that Tommy and Jason would certainly get him. "You knew what was going to happen to me and you still didn't warn me? You didn't take me away…you let him…you let him take so much away from me that should have belonged to…"

"I only knew that you were the one person he wanted to get when this all began. Then we became friends and I didn't deal with him for years. I didn't want to have to deal with it, but when he came back, he promised things that you couldn't. I was stupid to agree to help him again, but if I had known, I wouldn't have helped…I wouldn't have done all of this," Ben said as Kim turned around and looked into his eyes and saw just how sorry he was that all of this had happened and that he had been involved. She, however, was not quite ready to forgive. Far too much had happened for her to just be able to forgive because someone asked for forgiveness.

"Are you asking me to trust you again?" Kim asked as Ben shook his head no. He was not going to ask that of her, not after the last few days. He was just going to ask her to listen and make whatever judgment that she needed to right now.

"I just want to help all of you get out of this alive," Ben said as Kim looked over at him, disgusted that he would even consider this.

"You better have some good information, because we've already lost one person," Tommy said as Ben looked between the two of them. Who had died that he didn't know about?

"I had a miscarriage, with all your gallivanting around with Mesogogg, I didn't have time to tell you that I found out I was pregnant," Kim said as Ben just began shaking his head. He could not believe that this had happened to her. He was sure that there was more to it than what he knew, but he didn't want to have to hear about it. He didn't know if he could take much more.

"I'm confused," Ben said, as he had been sure that he would know if Mesogogg had impregnated her right away. She would have been so upset that she would not have been able to function. "Who's was it?"

"Not Mesogogg's," Kim said as Ben was barely able to focus on what was going on here. What had he missed?

"We got married a few weeks ago," Tommy said as Ben nodded as the realization hit him that he had also passed that information over to Mesogogg. He, however, could tell by the look in Jason's eyes that the two of them had kept it a secret until recently. He still did not seem to be quite comfortable with the entire situation either, although that might have more to do with him than anything that Kim or Tommy had done.

"And you know that she was pregnant how?" Ben asked as Kim and Tommy didn't look at him. They were not going to reveal anymore about themselves than they needed to, considering everything that was happening right now.

"That's not important, but you better start talking. We don't have a lot of time for bull shit today," Kim said as she let go of Tommy and walked back over to her bed and sat down. She needed to have a little bit of room right now while she was dealing with all of this and even Tommy understood that. "I'm not going to be very patient with you Ben. You have a lot to earn back and not very long to do it."

"Mesogogg has sensed that something is wrong with the universe, like all of the beings that would help him are suddenly gone. Don't ask me how it happened, because I don't know, but he is definitely planning to come after you soon. He knows that he can't wait any longer," Ben said as Tommy and Jason both joined Kim on the bed and she leaned her head on Tommy's shoulder. He wanted to just pull her into his lap and rock her to sleep, so that she would not be worried about a lot of things. She had too much on her right now and he did not want to put anything else on her right now, but suddenly much more had been put on her and it was all her decision how they would handle it, even though he wanted to kill Ben. There was not much that he could do to him if Kim didn't give him some sort of sign as to what they needed to have done.

"What is he planning?" Tommy asked as Ben shrugged his shoulders. He had not been able to find out most of that, even though he had attempted it. Mesogogg had begun shutting everyone out as soon as he figured out that he no longer had any extra help.

"He threw me out before I could find out, but I have the sinking feeling that it has something to do with your zords," Ben said as Kim and Tommy looked at each other. They hated hearing that they were going to have to go to the skies again, but they really did not have any choice about that.

"He only knows about the Dino Rangers' zords. He doesn't know about ours. We can still take him with those if we have to. I'm sure that he doesn't want to deal with two flying zords," Kim said as Tommy nodded. They had not had a reason to use their zords lately, but they both would like to take to the air again and just see what happened. It would definitely allow them to be able to do some things that they had not been able to do in a very long time.

"They are not connected, so even if he compromises those zords…" Tommy thought aloud as Kim got up and began walking around the room, thinking about things other than their ranger responsibilities. She had this feeling that something was going really bad.

"Is there any way that we can get home?" Kim asked as Tommy looked over at her. He wanted to ask her about what was going through her mind right now, but he was sure that she was not going to say it until she was absolutely sure about it.

"That all depends on what your doctor says," Tommy said as Kim gave him a look that clearly said that he needed to go talk to the doctor and see what was going on. "I'll be right back."

"Kim…Kim come in," Conner's voice echoed out into the room as Kim looked down at her communicator and then over at Jason. He had had perfect timing, but she was not sure that she wanted to hear what he had to say.

"What's going on Conner?" Kim asked as she heard an explosion in the background and she winced. She now had the sinking feeling that they were about to go into another battle and she was not sure if she was ready for that at all.

"We need some help, Mesogogg is attacking," Conner managed to say as Kim looked between Ben and Jason, before she gathered her gown closed and then walked out into the hall, looking for Tommy.

"Shouldn't we go help," Ben said as Jason grabbed him and threw him back down in the bed. He was not going anywhere because if he was lying, he wanted to make sure that he was where he could get his hands on him. "I guess not."

"You're right, we're not going anywhere right now. This is their job," Jason said as Kim came running back in with Tommy, who seemed rather confused.

"You're telling me that they are under attack right now?" Tommy asked, skeptically. He was sure that Kim had just imagined it because of everything else that was happening.

"No, I just thought that I'd run you down, tell you there was an attack and then get you back in here just to kiss you senseless," Kim said, sarcastically, as Tommy looked over at her, semi-hopeful, before he caught her glare. "Of course I'm serious Tommy! I wouldn't joke about something like this."

"Then it looks like your information is going to be tested," Tommy said as he grabbed her hand and they teleported away.

"You better hope that your information was right, otherwise you'll wind up missing," Jason said as Ben shrunk away from him. He did not want to be in any more trouble than he was already in, considering everything that was going on right now.

"I know that it was," Ben said, confidently, as Jason just sat down on the bed. The two of them were going to have to keep the doctors at bay for a little while, so he hoped that the man had not betrayed them too much, otherwise all hell would break loose.


	36. A Fight with the Devil

AN: I want to thank every one for making this the first story that I have ever had reach over 200 reviews. Thank you so much and I hope that you enjoy the final few chapters.

"We have to go now," Mesogogg said as Zeltrax merely looked at him. He did not think it wise to agree or disagree with him at this point. There was far too much at stake for him if he did the wrong thing at this moment. Mesogogg was on a vengeful streak that made it nearly impossible to talk him out of anything that might be remotely suicidal. Zeltrax knew that they were probably going to walk into their own death, but there was no way to talk him out of it without being killed right now. "The rangers are far too powerful."

"Maybe it would be wise to wait, let some of that power wane," Zeltrax tried to reason, as Mesogogg shook his head no. The time for waiting had passed, Kimberly and Tommy were weak and with any luck that would be spread to their rangers. Their rangers did not know nearly enough about certain vehicles and it would be exceedingly easy to overtake them that way. This was their one chance to push their hand and if they waited, Kim and Tommy would be ready and waiting for them.

"The time is now. Kimberly and Tommy are absorbed in their own problems, the rangers are vulnerable and we can overtake them easily. We must go now," Mesogogg said as Zeltrax just shook his head. He was not sure that this was wise, no matter what Mesogogg thought. He was sure that Kimberly and Tommy could come at any time and destroy everything that they had worked so hard to achieve.

"They still may come after us," Zeltrax said as Mesogogg looked over at him. He did not need that pointed out, although it was the truth. He doubted that Kimberly and Tommy had let down all their defenses.

"Ben is gone and if I am right about him, he ran straight to them, to try to save what little credibility he has left. He knows too much and if we let things go too long, then he will have told them everything that he knows. We must act while we still have a little bit of an advantage," Mesogogg said as Zeltrax could only nod. He really did not have much of a choice about that now. They had allowed Ben to leave alive and pass on everything that he knew about the situation at hand.

"Then let's go," Zeltrax said as Mesogogg leered. He was finally going to get the revenge that he had plotted against Kimberly for all of these years.

-----------------------

"How are you feeling?" Conner asked, as he looked over at Kira. He could see that she was tired, but he was afraid that it was more than being tired today. The last night had about killed them, but he knew that things would get better, eventually. They had to get better, otherwise the rangers would cease to exist.

"I just don't like knowing that they've lost…" Kira trailed off as she looked over at him, pleading for him to understand without her going into great detail about it. It was just too painful to say and she was not even the one that it had happened to.

"No one likes to know that, but they'll get through it, as long as they can keep Mr. Hart from killing Tommy they should be all right," Conner said, with a half hearted smile as Kira merely nodded.

She understood a father wanting to protect their child, but Kim had long been out from under his roof and the fact was she was married to Tommy, who no one believed could actually hurt her. They all knew that he loved her far too much and even if he was mad at her, he knew that there were times to just walk away. His anger would never boil down to hitting her, that was just the fact of the matter. He knew what he could do and unless he was evil he would never strike her, that was something that he had learned long ago.

"How long do you think it will be?" Kira asked as Conner shook his head. He didn't know how long it would be before they had to battle Mesogogg again, but he hoped that it would be a little while from now. They were going to need Kim and Tommy's help to truly bring the man down.

"Not nearly long enough. I don't think that they're going to really have enough time to recover and I hate that for them. The two of them deserve some sort of break from this," Conner said as Kira nodded her head in agreement. She knew that it had been horrible for them lately, but hopefully they would be able to pull it all together in time for one last battle.

"Yeah, if any one does it's them," Kira said as Conner pulled into her driveway and looked over at her. He knew that her parents were going to be concerned by her condition, but as he did not look any better, maybe they would just take it as a very long day.

"Call me if you need anything," Conner said as he walked her to the door and gave her a kiss. That was when they heard an explosion and felt the ground quake.

"You've got to be kidding me," Kira said as Conner just shook his head as he pulled her back out into the open. "They won't even give them a damn day."

"It's actually a good strategy, don't give them a chance to recover and you risk a lot less problems of your own," Conner said as Kira just looked over at him. She did not like that he was thinking like these stupid creatures that continued to come after them. It showed that they had been in the ranger world far too long, if he was able to understand what they were thinking.

"You better contact them," Kira said as she looked up into the sky and saw her zord flying over head as Conner just looked over at her in dismay. This could not be good for their zords to be out without any of their knowledge that they had been called.

"Yeah, you go on and get the others and I'll be there in a few minutes," Conner said as Kira nodded and then sprinted off until she was out of the sight of most people and teleported away. "Kim…Kim come in."

"What's going on Conner?" Kim asked as she heard an explosion in the background.

"We need some help, Mesogogg is attacking," Conner managed to say as Kim looked between Ben and Jason, before she gathered her gown closed and then walked out into the hall, looking for Tommy.

"Shouldn't we go help," Ben said as Jason grabbed him and threw him back down in the bed. He was not going anywhere because if he was lying, he wanted to make sure that he was where he could get his hands on him. "I guess not."

"You're right, we're not going anywhere right now. This is their job," Jason said as Kim came running back in with Tommy, who seemed rather confused.

"You're telling me that they are under attack right now?" Tommy asked, skeptically. He was sure that Kim had just imagined it because of everything else that was happening.

"No, I just thought that I'd run you down, tell you there was an attack and then get you back in here just to kiss you senseless," Kim said, sarcastically, as Tommy looked over at her, semi-hopeful, before he caught her glare. "Of course I'm serious Tommy! I wouldn't joke about something like this."

------------

"I never thought that you would have to fight in that," Tommy remarked as they landed in the middle of the battle, still in the clothes that they left the hospital in. There had been times when he thought Kim was going to have to fight in a hospital gown, but this was not one of those times. He had expected for her to be able to heal before they had to go running into another damn battle.

"I'm not," Kim said as she morphed and Tommy just shook his head as he did the same thing. It had never really occurred to him that they would be brought in for this, but now he understood it better. Kimberly was the only one that could bring Mesogogg down, so it made sense that she would have to be here. To at least see it happen, if not participate in it as well. "Come on, let's go."

"We've got a problem. Our zords aren't responding to us anymore and the monster is now…" Conner motioned to the sky as Tommy and Kimberly just shook their heads. They had thought that it might come down to this, but this was something that they didn't really like to have to deal with.

"Take care of everything that is on the ground, ours should still work," Tommy said as Kim started calling their zords back from the past. They had never thought that they would be flying again, especially Tommy after he had been in every other ground bound zord known to man.

"Let's go flying," Kim said as Tommy smiled and the both of them jumped into the air.

"Their zords," Kira muttered as they all looked up into the sky to see the crane and falcon soar past them with a war cry as even the tryannadrones quit fighting for a moment to watch them pass, side by side. The crane and the falcon, brought back to life when no one thought that it was even possible. "They're beautiful."

"I'm sure that Tommy and Kim want to hear that their zords are beautiful," Conner whispered as Kira just looked over at him, mad that he would even attempt to bring that up. There was no other word to describe their zords and Conner would just have to deal with it.

"Guys, don't argue about that, we have to fight, otherwise everything will be hell for us," Meagan reminded them as they looked at each other and then went into the fight as they heard the zords swoop overhead.

"I'd do anything for a megazord right now," Tommy said as he began blasting the zord that he had helped make with his own.

"Yeah, I know, but we're just going to have to deal with what we have," Kim said as Tommy smiled under his mask. It was not like her to say that, considering the fact that she was now spinning around in the air to avoid being hit.

"I hate doing this," Tommy muttered as Kim fired upon the zord. She understood Tommy wanting to be slightly sympathetic, but they couldn't do that right now. They had to destroy everything that stood in front of them right now.

"Oh, you do?" Mesogogg asked as he landed in Tommy's zord and Tommy just looked back at the man. How had he been able to get into their zords?

"Kim bail. Set your crane on self-destruct and bail," Tommy said as he could almost hear her questioning him, but she did what he said and set the crane on self-destruct and bailed. That, however, sent her flying to the ground and it had been years since that had happened with her and she forgot how much it actually hurt.

"Oh god," Kim said as she rolled over and looked up at the sky and saw that Tommy had not yet abandoned his zord. He seemed to be waiting until the last moment and she did not appreciate that. She was not sure if she could live through this sort of suspense again. "Come on, Tommy, get out of there. Don't try to be a hero, get out of there, now."

"You know he wants to make you suffer," Zeltrax said as he landed in front of Kimberly, who merely looked at him with the greatest disgust that she could have right now. Tommy knew better than to do something like that, but even as she was thinking that, both the falcon and the crane zords exploded, taking the other zords with them.

"Tommy…" Kim whispered as she looked up at the sky and sunk to her knees. She didn't have to will to fight anymore, the will to live, the will to do much of anything. She felt that there was no way that he could have made it out of that. He would have had to bail early enough that she would be able to see him.

"Get her out of here," Conner whispered to Kira and she couldn't help but nod. There was no need to keep Kimberly here if she was not going to be able to help them at all.

"She has to stay," Tommy said as he emerged from the rubble and Kim managed to look over at him before she passed out.

"Dr. O, you're all right!" Kira yelled as she gave him an excited hug, but Tommy just shook his head no. He was not all right, but it seemed that Kim was still trying to heal him. He didn't know if she would be able to pull it off this time.

"We've got to get rid of Zeltrax," Tommy said as the young rangers looked at each other, they weren't sure how they could do that. "Mesogogg is gone, pool your powers and kill the bastard."

"Okay," Conner barely said as he felt the others pooling their energy into the weapon that he held in front of them. That was when they saw Mesogogg walk out and the rangers looked back at Tommy, who had collapsed next to Kimberly. "What are we supposed to do now?"

"What he said, Conner. It's the only thing that will work. We don't have a choice but to listen to them, they know how to deal with this better than we do," Kira said as Conner barely nodded his head and then fired the weapon, which caused Mesogogg and his henchman to dematerialize in front of them. The rangers, then felt something be extracted from their bodies, as they collapsed from the pain as well.

"This helped them none," Jason muttered as he landed there with the others to help get them back to a safe place. They had heard about the explosion and had started up there to help pick up the pieces. Jason had never thought that he would be picking up rangers instead. "I think that they are still going to kill you."

"I told them how to defeat him," Ben said, as he couldn't quite understand why they would not be all right with him.

"And they are still over there, passed out. If they don't wake up, hell will have no fury like all of us," Jason threatened as Ben merely managed to nod. He didn't think that he trusted himself to say anything, considering how things looked right now.


	37. Facing the Others

"What happened to the kids?" Kim asked as she woke up and looked around the room. She knew that she had passed out before whatever had happened, but now she found herself back in the hospital and Tommy was sitting in his chair. She could see that he looked like he was pissed at the world, but he did look calm enough that he would be able to tell her some answers before he had to go do a very long session of karate.

"Well, they're all right. They woke up a little while after their powers were taken from them by Hayley," Ben said as Tommy looked over at him, completely fed up with everything that he said. He had lost all of his patience when he had woken up in the Command Center, with Kim right beside him. He knew that they had somehow managed to survive, but he had hated to know what it had taken out of Kim to insure that they both lived. She could not keep sacrificing herself like this and he was eternally grateful that this had been the last battle otherwise, he was going to have to have a very long talk with her about this.

"Shut up," Tommy said as he glared over at Ben, who shied as far away from him as he could. He could feel the anger that was coming off Tommy and he knew that he needed to keep his distance from him for as long as he could. He felt that he had a beating coming to him, not that he didn't deserve it but he just thought that they might be able to find some sort of forgiveness for him. That day, however, was still a long way off from what he was able to tell. "The son of a bitch nearly killed us and you just calmly say that their powers are taken and that they're fine."

"Tommy," Kim muttered as she rolled over to her side to face him. She wanted to try to talk him down some, because she knew that she would not last very long. She was going to have to get some more rest before she was able to truly deal with the problem that was at hand. "We knew it wouldn't be easy, but it's done. Neither of us will ever have to worry about him again. We were warned in time to have a plan. It's all we could ask for right now."

"Don't you even take his side," Tommy said as Kim could feel the tension coming from him and she snapped. He had absolutely no reason to be mad at her and she was going to give him a piece of her mind. After the last few days she felt that she had the right to yell at him for saying something like that her.

"I'm not taking a side Tommy! But you know what I'm saying is true, we needed this and we got it just in time, even if he was doing it for the wrong reasons," Kim said as Ben sat down into one of the chairs. He certainly did not like the way that Kim sounded, but at least she was trying to keep Tommy from killing him right now, which he was sure was high on his to do list, probably right below making sure that Kim was all right.

"Don't get too comfortable, I still haven't decided whether or not to kick your ass," Tommy said as Kim sat up and looked between the two of them.

She did not want to have to diffuse the situation that was brewing. She didn't have the energy to talk Tommy out of anything that he was thinking about doing. He had been begging her to rest and take care of herself and she planned to do that right now. She knew that if she didn't there could be permanent damage done after her display of power and she just could risk that anymore. She knew that the life that was ahead of her was going to need her to have her body back to normal, as much as it could be. She hadn't even attempted to try to clear up her vision, so it was still as blurry as ever, but she hadn't taken off her glasses in days because of the headaches she had been getting.

"Tommy, Ben, you can go fight in the hall, beat each other to a pulp for all I care, but I need some rest," Kim said as Jason smiled. She was going to make them talk this out, one way or another.

"I say the Command Center," Tommy said grabbing Ben and teleporting out of the room.

"That is just wrong, Kim," Jason said as she rolled over to her side and closed her eyes.

"Go referee and make sure he doesn't kill him. I don't want to wake up to my husband being in jail for murder," Kim said as Jason looked over at her and then teleported away himself. Kim needed some time to grieve and Tommy needed to get some aggressions out of his system and hopefully they would be able to do that right now.

-------------

"What the hell were you doing!" Tommy yelled as he threw Ben into the nearest wall. Jason then materialized in the middle of the room as Tommy firmly held him against the wall and looked over to see who was disturbing this little heart to heart. "What are you doing here?"

"To make sure that you don't kill him and go to jail. Kim at least had the sense to do that," Jason said as he sat down and Ben just stared at him. He had not thought that Kim would even consider sending someone else to make sure that he didn't die. Obviously, he had forgotten just how kind hearted she was, even when someone had treated her terribly. "Go on, I'm just here to referee."

"Look, I just wanted to be able to…at first I wanted her too, but…she became my friend and then Taylor left and I went back to my life. Then he came back, blackmailed me into helping him and…I'm not proud of what I did, but at least I'll admit I'm wrong," Ben said as Tommy threw him to the ground. He knew that he had to kinda hold himself back for a few moments or Jason would be restraining him, although Jason didn't look like he was going to do much of anything to stop him from actually killing Ben like he wanted to.

"You could have told her, she would have helped you, forgiven you, I don't know what else you could have wanted…but this was not a good way to pay her back for everything that she did for you," Tommy said as Jason laughed. He couldn't help but agree. He knew just how much Kim had sacrificed to guarantee that Ben would be able to work at her gym and even become a co-owner. He just hoped that Ben would remember all of that.

"You are supposed to…" Ben said as Jason just shook his head.

"Kim sent me, to keep him out of jail, not myself," Jason said as Ben's eyes widened and Trini suddenly landed in the room and jumped between the men and Ben. She knew that Jason had to be just as furious as Tommy and if he had it his way, Ben would be dead in a few minutes.

"Let me, Trini," Jason muttered as Trini shook her head no. She did not want to lose Jason to something that he would regret when he woke up in the morning. She knew that they both were mad, but they had to control themselves so that they would be able to give Kim a chance to forgive.

"The two of you wouldn't be alive if we didn't have sympathy on you, you'd be gone as well. So it is time that you returned the sympathy that we have always given you," Trini said as Tommy took a step back. As many times as he had been evil, he knew that it was true, but he didn't want to think about it. He didn't think that he could stand to be compared to him.

"But we never did anything like this, not voluntarily," Tommy said as Trini just looked at him.

"You know that Kim will forgive him once she has calmed down some from the miscarriage. She couldn't live with herself if she didn't forgive him, considering how much she has done in the past that had to be forgiven," Trini said, rather pointedly as Tommy just shook his head as he walked away, so that he would be at a safe distance to pace without doing any damage.

"She never did anything like this, she never almost killed me," Tommy said as Jason and Trini both looked over at Tommy. They all knew that wasn't the truth, but Tommy didn't want to have to deal with comparing Ben to Kim right now. "Murianthius was different, she couldn't help that, so don't even bring it up."

"I know that you could have helped this, but it is the same in some ways," Trini said as Tommy gave her a skeptical look. "Wouldn't you want to salvage what you could when you were sure that they would reveal a betrayal?"

"Why not just tell the truth? Look at everything that Kim put herself through and she still came straight to me and told me the truth, not some screwed up, half ass version to make me just like her and still have some doubts about her sincerity. She came clean," Tommy said as they all just shook their heads. It was going to be hard to get through to him, not that they were going to really try to do that right now.

"Because you knew some of what she was doing and she knew nothing of what I did. I didn't want to lose her as a friend, I couldn't afford it," Ben said as Tommy just shook his head. "I'm not asking you to trust me or forgive me, but just to stand me."

"I just need a beer, a couple of cigarettes and a very long time with a punching bag," Tommy said as Jason and Trini looked over at him, the cigarettes were definitely something he had never talked about before. "I don't smoke often, actually I've only ever smoked when I am completely and utterly pissed off and that describes exactly what I am right now."

"I think that that is the one thing that I can understand," Trini said as Tommy looked over at her, slightly surprised that she would even slightly agree with any of it. She was supposed to be the voice of reason right now with two slightly insane men.

"I'm not even going to ask," Tommy said as Ben stood up and started towards the exit.

"You're not going anywhere," Trini said as Ben looked over at her. Did all of the rangers have it out for him? "You're going to have to talk to the others and since Kim is getting out of the hospital in about an hour, we'll just do it at their home."

"Okay," Ben said, as he knew it was foolish to disagree, although it might even more foolish to agree to go along with whatever was going on here. There was no way that all of this was going to work out well for him, but oh well, he didn't have much of a choice. He was either going to go voluntarily or they were going to drag him there.

------------

"You know this actually has a lot of room for an apartment over a gymnastics center," Kat said, to try to keep the conversation polite and away from anything too serious. She was sure that things were not going to be good in the next few minutes.

"I want to go to sleep," Kim said as Tommy just nodded as she walked over to their bedroom and closed the door.

"I don't really get why we are here," Conner said as Tommy looked over at Ben and the young rangers looked at their older counterparts, hoping that they would be able help them out, somehow.

"You want to explain yourself or do you want me to say something?" Tommy asked as Ben just looked around. He knew that the rangers might get hostile, but it would not be like that when they were in the Command Center. With Kim so close by, he knew that they wouldn't do anything too drastic.

"I'll explain myself," Ben said, as he was sure that he had no choice, if he even wanted to have a chance at not being hated by everyone in the room. "I have been working with Mesogogg for the past several months to try to bring down the rangers and it began several years ago, when I truly agreed with his thinking. I'm not proud of any of it, but if I don't tell you the truth, then I have absolutely no hope."

"You did what?" Conner asked as he absolutely could not believe this. This man worked with Kimberly and had been working against her the entire time. He was having a hard time swallowing all of this without becoming a mad man.

"How could you do such a thing?" Aisha asked as Ben just shook his head. He was sure that he would not be able to answer that well enough for them, no matter what he said they would be able to think of a way that he could have gotten out of it.

"I made a mistake, what more do you want from me? I can't go back and change everything that happened; I never knew that he would do what he did to her. If I had known I would have gotten her out, somehow," Ben said as he felt the older rangers glare and the younger rangers' confusion.

"You need to leave or hell will be nothing compared to us," Rocky said, speaking for everyone, as they barely nodded their agreement and Ben walked away towards the door, knowing that this was the best way to make an exit.

"I see your point, I'm gone," Ben said as the others looked between each other. Kim technically should be the one to throw him out of her life, but right now they needed him to be gone, they needed to be able to do some things that had nothing to do with him and keep him away for as long as they could. When Kim was ready, she'd bring him back, but she was not that ready right now.

"You know that doesn't feel nearly as good as it should," Kira said as the older rangers watched as Tommy stopped on his way back to his room.

"It shouldn't feel good, it's sad that he felt he had no choice. One day we'll be able to trust him again, but I'm not exactly sure when that will be," Tommy said as he looked around at all of them. He was honestly eager to get back to Kim. She needed him much more than he needed to be out here discussing issues with all of them. "Can I go?"

"Yeah, we'll let ourselves out," Jason said as Tommy barely nodded as he continued towards his room. "Guys, let's talk about everything more in the morning. We all need to calm down some, but the Command Center will still be open if you ever need anything and right now, we definitely need some time to deal with it all."

"I don't see how this is going to help us," Conner said as Kira just put both of her arms around him and he looked down at her.

"It helps us put things in perspective, about what our life is likely to be like from here on out. I think we just need to go home, it's the only thing that hasn't changed for us so far," Kira said as Conner merely nodded and they all continued out. Their lives as rangers had come to a sudden stop, their team no longer existed. Their network was completely gone, but they had learned that even when they got blindsided by the worst in life, it came out all right in the end.


	38. The End

**Epilogue**

"Hey guys!" Kira said as Conner, Ethan, Meagan, and Phillip walked inside her home. Her parents had finally agreed to them all going on a weekend trip together, which had taken a web of lies and half truths to be able to pull off. She had said that there would be adult supervision, which did happen to be the truth, now that she had a good idea of where they would be going. "Dr. O just called and asked if we could come to this address in Angel Grove. I'm up for a weekend trip down there if the rest of you are."

"Why not the gym?" Conner asked as he looked at the address, this wasn't anywhere near their gym or anywhere else he knew of in Angel Grove. He just hoped that he would be able to find it without too much trouble. He was pretty good at directions, but he had honestly never been able to do deal with spur of the moment plans without a good map and actually hearing the directions himself.

"He didn't say, but he said some of the others are going to be there, so maybe they are just having a little get together for everyone. It is about time to be honest," Kira said as Conner just nodded as they all piled into his car. They had known that they were going to be spending a weekend somewhere, but they were not just sure where it would be. They were going to decide that when they all got together and now they had.

"Have you heard anything from them lately?" Meagan asked as Kira shook her head no. They had told them that they would call whenever they could come down to Angel Grove, but it had been six months since they defeated Mesogogg and they still had not seen them. Now they were just wondering what was going on for them to decide that now was a good time to see them, instead of just waiting for Christmas.

"I think they've been really busy. Kim's been working at the gym, Dr. O has been getting used to the school, they just haven't had time to really ask us down and sit down and explain everything to us," Conner said as they all looked over at him. How did he know all of this? They hadn't spoken to Dr. O in months, not since their last meeting with him to try to get some kinks about their losing their powers straightened out and even that wasn't really for that long. "Dr. O called me last week to apologize about it all, but I forgot to tell you about it. It never came up with exams and everything else that was going on last week."

"I think this is what we all needed, maybe we'll finally get some closure," Meagan said as Kira nodded. There was still a lot that needed to be explained, but they had always thought they would have a chance to get it all straightened out and now it seemed they were going to get that.

------------

"Hey sweetie," Tommy said as he walked inside and Kim looked up at him from the couch. She had been taking a nap and had not wanted to be disturbed. "Come on, let's go."

"Where Tommy?" Kim asked, as she was absolutely sure that he has something up his sleeve, but she didn't know what it might be and she didn't have the energy to try to figure it out right now. She was worn out from the last few days and all she wanted to do was sleep for a couple of hours, but her husband didn't seem to want to allow that at all. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, Kim," Tommy said as he walked her out into the front yard and she sat down in the grass, to enjoy the sun as much as she could. She knew that she was going to be extremely uncomfortable in a few months and no longer able to do this, but she was going to enjoy it while she could. "I just wanted to make sure the guys could find the house."

"All of the guys know where the house is, unless you invited some people that I didn't know about and in that case, we might have a problem with the food," Kim said as she looked up at Tommy with a smile on her face and he laughed as he walked over to the puppy they had bought several weeks ago and began playing tug a war with his toy rope. "I should have never agreed to get a dog."

"But he's so cute," Tommy said as Kim gave him a skeptical look and just shook her head. She wondered how he was going to react to the baby, when he was acting like this with a puppy.

"And that's the only reason I agreed," Kim said as Tommy smiled as the puppy ran towards her and promptly plowed her over so that he could lick her face. "Hey buddy, come on, you know I don't like doggie breath. Watch the belly, watch the belly."

"Come here," Tommy said and the puppy turned towards him and just looked at him, like he was crazy. He was enjoying this far too much to quit without Tommy dragging him off. "Okay, get off my baby."

"He's way too excited," Kim said as Tommy smiled as he managed to hold the puppy still. "I'll get up sometime today."

"Dr. O?" Conner asked as they pulled up into the driveway and Kimberly's mouth dropped open as Tommy looked over at her with a sly smile on his face. "Are we at the right place?"

"Yeah, you are," Tommy said as he walked over to Kim and pulled her up and it was now the teenager's turn to have their mouths drop open. There was no way to deny that things had changed a lot since they had last seen them.

"You're pregnant?" Kira asked as Kim nodded her head yes. She had thought that they would have already known that, but obviously Tommy wanted to pull off more than one surprise in a day. "How long?"

"I'm about five months," Kim said as Kira walked over and gave her a hug. They couldn't believe this, at all.

"Congratulations," Kira said as the teenagers just looked around and could not believe what they were hearing. They had thought that it had taken them all of this time to pull their lives back together, but looks could definitely be deceiving. "But why didn't you tell us?"

"I didn't think about it, I'm sorry," Kim said as Tommy walked over and the puppy began licking her face, as she gave Tommy a bemused look. She couldn't be mad at him for any of this right now.

"So, we'll get to see the others?" Conner asked as Tommy nodded his head yes as they could not believe this. They had never thought that this would be the sort to meeting that they would have when they first came to see them again.

"I've got to get the food started, but you can go ahead and go inside or even to the backyard," Tommy said as he put down the puppy, which immediately began jumping up on Kimberly's legs. "Come on, buddy."

"Come on, I'll show you the inside," Kim said as Kira and Meagan followed as Conner, Ethan, and Phillip merely looked at each other and then followed Tommy around to the back. They did not want to see decorations and they were sure that Kim would understand that.

"How has class been?" Tommy asked as they looked over at him, semi-confused. They did not think that this was what he brought them here to discuss. Surely he would have just asked about that over the phone and saved them the fuel. "Look, we'll talk about everything once the others get here. The five of you deserve some answers and it's about time that we give them to you, but you're going to have to wait a little bit longer."

"Finally," Conner muttered as Tommy looked over at him.

"Ben is going to be here too, so I don't know what we are going to do about that. Kim was kinda insistent about him coming, so I don't know what we are going to do about it all," Tommy said as the three males looked over at him. They did not like the way this sounded at all. "She's ready to set everything aside and I can't blame her, it's just hard on me to believe it at all. They've been managing to work together all right, but she wants things to get back to normal, so I guess I have to just let this go. It is really no good to upset her right now."

"Well if he does anything…" Conner began as Tommy just looked over at him and shook his head. If he did something, the other rangers had already promised a reality that would be worse than death. He was sure that Ben knew what he was getting himself into, to a point and he was also sure that the other rangers would reiterate it if Ben decided to do something extremely stupid.

"Don't worry, I think that they've gotten it all settled down, but if they haven't…Billy's got a teleportation set up to send him straight to Aquitar and once they hear what he did, he won't be returned," Tommy whispered as the others couldn't help but smile. This sounded a lot more like the rangers that they had grown to love in the two brief months that they worked with them.

"Nice to know that they still look out for you," Phillip said as the females walked outside and Tommy looked straight at his grill. He did not want to let it be known that he had been talking about their plans for if Ben turned out bad. He didn't need to hear about it from Kimberly if he could help it.

"You, oof," Kim said as the puppy ran at her again. "Hey buddy…we have got to teach him some self control."

"He'll grow out of it," Tommy said as Kim just shook her head. She could only hope that what he was saying was the truth. She couldn't imagine the puppy jumping on the baby, but they would handle that when that became an issue.

"Tommy, Trini called to say that Jason will be a little bit late. Something about finalizing some purchase of a building," Kim said as she handed him the burgers and just shook her head. Everything looked disgusting to her right now, but she knew it would taste fine once it was cooked. "And make sure mine is dead, Tommy."

"All right," Tommy said with a laugh as he just shook his head. He knew that he would have to explain that to the others, but that was fine. "Do you need help with anything?"

"No, I should be fine. It's not really that much, you've fixed all the big stuff already," Kim said as she turned and walked back inside as Tommy smiled as he watched her go.

"Dr. O, yoo-hoo," Conner said waving his hand in front of Tommy's face which earned him a glare.

"I'm the only man allowed to stare at her like that without having to worry about being bitch slapped," Tommy said as the teens couldn't help but laugh. "I'm glad you find it funny."

"It's just something I remember you saying when we first met you and Kim," Conner said as Tommy covered his face. He could remember some of the threats he had had to make with Conner just to guarantee that he would not hit on Kim.

"I had to make sure that you didn't piss her off. She doesn't like being hit on, by anyone," Tommy said as some of the other rangers roamed into the back yard and looked at the young rangers.

"Newbies, sit, it looks like we're going to have a good time tonight," Rocky said as they looked over at him and Tommy then nodded that there was going to be no harm done to them.

"Welcome to the big kid table," Zack joked as they sat down and they gave them confused looks. They weren't newbies anymore; they had been broken in the rough way from what they could tell about it. The others had had some battles at the beginning, but they had not gone through everything that they went through in a couple of months. It took them a couple of years to get the same experience that they now had.

"You're kidding, right?" Conner asked as he sat down and the others smiled. "We did more than you did in two months."

"Those are fighting words right there," Rocky said as Conner merely shook his head. He didn't see why it would be a big deal, it was the truth, at least from what he had been able to gather, but he had only had a limited amount of information. If he had known a little bit more, he might have just kept his mouth shut. "You think I'm joking? Tommy, how many teams have you been on?"

"Too many to count and if you don't mind keeping that quiet, I'd really appreciate it. If Kim gets reminded of that too soon I'll be sleeping on the couch tonight and I really don't want to have to do that. I miss sleeping by my wife," Tommy said as the others laughed as Kim walked back outside, which caused them to stop. They knew that he was joking, but they still were not going to push their luck and make Kim mad so early in the day.

"You're already talking about rangers, aren't you?" Kim asked as Tommy shook his head no and Kim couldn't help but shake her head. At least he was trying to be peaceable, but she knew that might be thrown out the window any moment now. "Ben's here, but I think that I'll keep him inside for a little while longer."

"Okay," Tommy said as Jason walked over to him. He had just walked through the house and was having a very hard time believing that Ben actually showed up. He had thought that it was some sort of joke. If he had known that Kim was serious, he would have definitely made sure to bring some sedation because he was not sure if he could take this meeting.

"What the hell is going on here?" Jason asked as Tommy smiled over at him. This was exactly how he expected Jason to react, but he knew that this was mild for him. He had a lot more on his mind right now.

"Jason, I'm not happy either, but if I'm not nice, the dog and I will have a good night together," Tommy said as Jason just shook his head. That had never been something to stop Tommy before. Why should it stop him now?

"She can't threaten me with sleeping alone," Jason said as Tommy watched Trini walk over.

"You'll be alone if you do anything too," Trini said as Jason glared over at her and then walked inside to talk to Kim.

"Did he forget?" Tommy asked as Jason walked right back out, glared at Trini and then continued on. "I must be rubbing off on him."

"Well after ten years, it's understandable that the two of you would have rubbed off on each other some," Trini said as Tommy smiled and nodded. It was the only thing that he could manage right now.

"Sit," Aisha ordered placing Kim in a lawn chair and Tommy watched with a smile on his face. He had tried this himself and it had not worked out very well for him, but maybe Aisha would be able to convince her that she could actually relax some. "No, ifs, ands or buts, you need to rest. I can handle all of this."

"Ish…" Kim complained as Tommy just shook his head. He knew that this would not work. Kim would barely listen to him, she was not going to listen to anyone else when they told her to slow down.

"Just let me do this for you," Aisha said as Kim just shook her head and then looked over at Tommy, who merely nodded to appease them and to keep himself from getting put into the middle.

"Fine," Kim said as she walked over to Tommy and just shook her head. "I'm pregnant, I'm not an invalid. What are they going to do when I'm closer to actually having the baby?"

"Probably strap you down to the bed to keep you from going anywhere," Tommy said as Kim glared up at him. She did not think that this was something that he needed to joke around about, because she could actually see them trying something like that. "I'm joking, Kim, I don't think that they're going to be that bad. It's more that they're worried about you. The last few weeks have been tough at the gym."

"But I've been fine," Kim said as Tommy nodded his head that he agreed. If she hadn't been all right, then he would have jumped on the bandwagon to get her to stay at home. He knew that she desperately needed that outlet and even though it was tempting to get her to quit it, he knew it would do more damage in the end if he did such a thing.

"I know that, don't worry they'll all calm down when some of this had blown over. They're just not taking it so well that you are ready to forgive, when everything is still so fresh," Tommy said as Kim began to object but he held up his hand. "It's a different situation to have to deal with. As rangers we always knew that it was an involuntary thing to become evil. It's a lot harder to believe that someone actually chose to become evil and then wanted to back out. But we'll deal with it, he hurt you the most and if you are ready to forgive, what's going to stop us from doing the same thing?"

"I'm glad that you've finally come around," Kim said as Tommy just shook his head. He would never fully come around to this idea, but he knew better than to completely go against her. He had promised her a lot of things and he intended to keep those promises unless something happened that forced him to change his mind. "Tommy, how can you still hold something against him?"

"The scars you can barely see on your chest are enough Kim, I don't even need to add anything else to still feel like this," Tommy said as Kim let out a huff and then turned and walked back inside, this time to grab Ben.

"Kim, really, I can go if they don't want me here," Ben said as Kim shook her head no and then placed Ben right beside Tommy. Tommy looked down at his wife and saw the determined glare she was giving him. He was going to deal with this, whether he liked it or not.

"They want you here," Kim said as Tommy managed to nod his head, although he didn't know how he did it. He honestly had never had to pull off a lie this big before, but somehow he was doing that today.

"You don't have to lie to me," Ben said as he looked over at Tommy, who was watching Kim walk back inside.

"Yeah, I do, because I don't know when I'll be ready to forgive you, but I promised myself that whenever she was I would at least try," Tommy said looking over at Ben. "Don't expect more than that from the others. They are only being nice since she wants them to be, she's pregnant and they don't want anything to happen to this baby, maybe even more than me."

"Thanks for the warning," Ben said as Tommy managed to nod his head and then focused on the grill again. He was not going to help Ben dig himself out of the hole that he was in; he was going to have to do that himself.

"Tommy," Kim said as she walked over to him and he looked down at her.

"You okay?" Tommy asked as he put his arm around her and pulled her in close.

"I'm just a little bit worried about everything," Kim said as he gently rubbed her side and she let out a sigh of contentment. "How do you think that they are going to react to everything that we have to tell them?"

"They'll take it all right. They are rangers after all," Tommy said as Kim barely nodded. They both knew that they hadn't been rangers for nearly as long as the rest of them, but they had been rangers nonetheless and they deserved to know everything that had happened.

"How do you think they are going to like hearing about outright murder?" Kim muttered as Tommy looked down at her.

Neither of them liked what they had to do to Demetri and Nadrox, but it had ended all need for Power Rangers. It had sent them back to a time when it was no longer necessary and the world was right again. As long as they lived and their children lived and their children's children lived, everything would be fine. Their blood would protect the earth, that was something that they had found out from Ninjor after the fact. That was why it was important to have a family and insist that their family continue. If it ever ended, Earth would be in grave danger once again.

"Of evil beings? Kim, don't worry about it, just go make Aisha allow you to help," Tommy said as he gave her a gentle push towards the house and she looked back at him before walking on. There was not much that she could really do about it, but it would be all right, somehow.

--------------

"So why are we really here?" Conner asked, as they had gotten through with their meal and Tommy looked at the between the older rangers and the younger ones before he nodded towards the house. He was sure that they needed to go inside. Their neighbors were kind people but they did not want the enraged yells of their friends to frighten them.

"To let the truth be known, a truth that none of you really want to listen to right now. There are a lot of things to know that you might not be able to take, you just have to listen and truly understand what happened a few months ago," Tommy said as Kim looked over at him. They had agreed that he would do most of the talking unless something came up and she had to.

"You defeated Nadrox and Demetri," Jason said as Tommy looked around at them.

"If you can call it defeat," Tommy muttered as Jason looked over at him. He had a feeling that things were about to be said that would shift their entire belief system. "It was not like any other battle we have ever fought before. It was not like something that we ever thought we'd have to do. Rangers are not supposed to become murderers."

"Murderers? Tommy, you just defeated the evil beings that came after you. There is nothing wrong with that, we've done it hundreds of times," Trini said as Tommy looked over and shook his head.

"They were human, they were rangers that went into an eternal battle of evil. We killed our own blood. We killed our evil selves," Tommy said as several people's mouths fell open and they just shook their heads. This could not be the truth.

"We were always the biggest threat to this Earth when we were evil. Look at all the things that we did, we had to murder, we had to kill, we had to go through everything to be able to bring the Earth back into safety," Kim said as she looked at the others. "You think we're joking? Why could we sense them, why did they bother us more than anything that we have ever met? We are the rangers that have lived through the ages, the ones that must keep living through our children, because if we don't our evil comes back. That is how it did before. That was how Zordon knew when he saw us together for the first time, evil and good. I sensed before anyone else and knew without seeing the picture. We knew it all."

"It can't be true," Billy muttered as Kimberly stood up and pulled up her shirt to reveal the birthmark that they all knew was on her stomach.

"Then explain to me why she had that," Kim said as Tommy handed them the picture of the body that they had managed to get from her memory. "And why he had…"

"They were our evil selves, at the absolute worst," Tommy said, pulling Kim down next to him and he began to gently rub her shoulder. He knew that she did not need to stay this revved up for too long. "We didn't know until afterwards and Ninjor was reluctant to tell us then, but we got the truth out of him. We still will need your help though."

"Our help?" Jason asked as Kim looked over at the two of them and then up at Tommy.

"We can't ask this of them Tommy," Kim said as Tommy looked over at her. "Their children should be able to have other choices besides ours."

"I'm not saying all of them marry our kids, but it will make everything stronger, the more ranger blood that they have," Tommy said as Kim shoved him away and stalked out of the room. "Kimberly…come on."

"No, Tommy, I can't put anyone else in danger," Kimberly ranted as he caught her by the wrist and she quickly turned to face him.

"They won't all be in danger, you've got to calm down," Tommy said soothingly as she glared up at him. "Kim, please."

"It's not right to ask this of them!" Kim yelled as she snatched away from him and started down the hall before she had to prop herself up against the wall.

"Are you all right?" Tommy whispered, concern filling his voice as he walked up behind her and she merely nodded her head yes. She didn't want for him to worry.

"Dizzy," Kim managed before she had to run to the bathroom and throw up.

"What could they possibly have to ask of us?" Conner asked, looking around at the others, thinking that one of them might have an answer.

"Our children to marry theirs and then for that to continue throughout the generations," Trini said, simply, as they looked over at her. "The more ranger blood they have, the better. It's the only thing that makes sense. As long as Kim and Tommy are alive in someone, things will be all right, the Earth won't have to worry about having rangers."

"I never saw that one coming," Billy said as many of the others nodded their heads as well. They had certainly thought that other things would happen before all of this came up.

"It is interesting," Ben said as the others looked over at him. "I know, it would probably be better for me to shut up, but does anyone wonder why they came back? Who was the person with both of their blood to die that would cause this to happen?"

"Tommy's mother," Jason muttered as they all looked over at him.

"Dr. O's mom is alive and well," Kira said as the older rangers shook their heads no. They had never been able to tell them about that part of Tommy's life.

"That's not his mom, they adopted Tommy when he was still a baby," Trini said as the rangers just looked at her and Tommy returned to the room and sat down in his chair. He had gotten Kim to bed and with any luck she'd be over this in a few hours. "Where's Kim?"

"In bed, she had a dizzy spell after all the yelling," Tommy said as Trini and Aisha both stood from their chairs. "Please, don't go help her. She already feels helpless enough without anyone going back there and waiting on her hand and foot. If she gets worse, trust me, we'll know."

"Why did you tell us this?" Conner asked Tommy looked over at him.

"Because someone has to have the job of telling our great-grandkids how important it is for one person in our blood line to always be alive. It doesn't matter what they have to do to get that. If we die, they come back and two more people have to kill themselves. I don't want this to happen to anyone else," Tommy said as they all looked at him. "This probably isn't anything like what you thought you would be up here for, but it's time that you know the truth. We're all human, even if we are rangers."

"Yeah, but they told us that several months ago," Meagan said, nodding her head towards Jason and Tommy just shook his head.

"Well, then maybe I won't have to give the speech I had planned out," Tommy said, grateful to not have to put himself through that sort of hell.

"What was it about?" Phillip asked as Tommy looked over at him, wondering why he had felt it necessary to even ask.

"That we are human, even if we are rangers. That things can happen to us that we never thought would happen and that we can be things we never thought we were. I always had this feeling about Kim, a feeling I couldn't explain, but that's all right, I don't need to be able to explain. I just need to be able to live with myself and now I can," Tommy said with a smile as the others nodded.

"So that's it, you murdered your evil self in order to save the entire universe from being ruled by the most pure form of evil that has ever been known to exist?" Ethan asked as Tommy looked over at him and then nodded his head. "Just checking, you know I had to make sure that you weren't going to say that there is an evil Jason or something out there."

"Not funny," Jason said as Tommy smiled and then looked around at his friends.

His life was far from perfect, but he had learned a lot along the way. He had learned that being a ranger had its ups and its downs, just like any other job, maybe even more so. He had learned that he was not half as good as he thought he was when he was alone, that the deep sadness he had inside of him could be cured, by only one woman. He knew that he loved her and always had, there was no other word to describe what he truly felt for her. He also knew that his life was going to work out all right and after everything that had happened over the last few months he took that as a blessing and thanked God for everyday he had left, because being blindsided was no fun, but life is always full of surprises.

AN: That's all folks! I hope that you have enjoyed this story and that I'll hear more from you later!


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